#dontgo Movement-- But Don't Go Too Far!!!

Today my corner Mobil station has regular unleaded gasoline for $1.39 per gallon. Gleefully people have been laughing about the falling gas pump prices. Just a few days ago, a local commentator relished the fact that when he looks at the price at the pump he is tempted to squirt some gas on the ground just for grins or offer to fill up someone else's tank, too. While I love the fact that the pump prices are back to a livable level, I am also wary that this is just the lull before the storm.

In August, with a gallon of gas going for $4 plus depending on the locale in the USA, the Democrat Congress went home in a "let them eat cake" moment that left the ordinary citizenry twisting in the wind over fuel prices and the rogue Republican congress stayed behind in the darkened chambers and publicized their month long "sit in" demonstration via the social media. From this the #dontgo movement was born as a grassroots means of spreading the word about the need for drilling in the US and offshore as a bridge to make us less dependent on and ultimately independent of foreign oil. Between the #dontgo movement and Americansolutions.com the mantra of "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" became the rallying cry for the common guy who needs to have gasoline to get to work every day.

In Early September when Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Gulf Coast, I recall sitting at my home computer on the weekend monitoring the petroleum chat rooms. I sat like a fly on the wall as men in the petroleum industry wove tales of gas shortages and further skyrocketing pump prices if the worst damage projected would happen to the oil rigs in the Gulf and the pipelines that take oil and gasoline to the rest of the country had to be shut done for any period of time. While the worst case scenario did not materialize for the Midwest, there were some tight times in Atlanta and along the Eastern seaboard.

The ban on offshore drilling was allowed to expire in late September and the prices have been in free fall ever since. But this is not the time to take our eyes off of the ball because we are still totally dependent on foreign oil. Now is the time to DEMAND that the small gains that have been made continue to be enforced and put into play. NOW IS THE TIME FOR DRILLING AND EXPLORATION. We can't afford to sit on our laurels (affordable gasoline) and tell ourselves that the problem is solved.... because it isn't.

Earlier this month, in a reaction to the continued fall in crude oil prices, OPEC cut production by 1.5 million barrels per day in an attempt to stave off further fall in price. In spite of this, oil prices have further dropped so that today the price is hovering around $50 per barrel. Since the first reduction did not have its intended effect, Iran and Venezuela are both calling for a further reduction in output when OPEC meets on November 29 in Cairo.

There are other ways that OPEC can ratchet up the pressure against us if they so desire...and remember... we are NOT their favorite people. Oil is traded in US dollars. For the past 3-4 years there have been murmurings about changing the currency for petroleum trade to the Euro. While it has not yet happened, this could have devastating consequences for us. Today, November 24, 2008, one Euro is equal to $1.2885 US dollars. If the oil trade currency were to change overnight, today's $50 barrel of oil would cost us $64.43 tomorrow. We are at the mercy of the oil producing nations and they have a MONOPOLY on the situation. So there are a number of ways to combine forces to squeeze us back into a very uncomfortable place with oil and heap that onto our economic woes.

It is also clear to the world that our President-elect is not a fan of ANY drilling or petroleum based ventures. He is a fan of green jobs, an area that still has much to be developed so that it does not turn into the corn/ethanol disaster we have already endured. He also favors alternative energy (BUT NOT NUCLEAR), but if we had to depend on alternative energy overnight we could not because the development and implementation phase would take years! Add to this the fact that we are in a time of transition in our leadership that makes us highly vulnerable to external whims. There is no time like the present to continue the mantra of "Drill Here Drill NOW!" to provide a bridge to the future.

While the #dontgo movement has morphed into the #dontgo Revolution and broadened its horizons to unite the conservative voters on a variety of issues and American Solutions.com is a little quieter than it has been in the past 4 months, the theme of energy independence resonates with ordinary people. American Solutions.com continues to have active buttons on its website to tell President-elect Obama that drilling in the USA is still vitally important as a bridge to the future of energy independence. It is an issue that MUST be kept in the forefront and articulated clearly so that the most lowly of us KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF WE DO NOT pursue our own supplies of oil and natural gas. We are a nation of easily shifting focus and short attention span. We tire of hearing about the same things over and over and if the pressure is off, we move on to something else rather than continuing to work on the problem. In this situation, we cannot take our eyes off of the prize and we need to keep moving the ball forward lest we suddenly find ourselves blindsided back into energy HELL!