Sticking oil underground is wrong at this point in time. -- IHT

At a time of globally altered climate due to burning oil, as the planet braces for a North American driving season that is sure to see massive emissions from the US car fleet, this is exactly the right time to be sticking oil underground, instead of releasing greenhouse gases. But the United State Congress voted overwhelmingly this week (the Senate 97-1, and the House of Representatives 385 to 25) to stop socking oil away in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In support of this action, Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat from North Dakota made the above claim, that "Sticking oil underground is wrong."

The US is currently adding 70,000 barrels a day to the Strategic Reserve. Will freeing up 70,000 barrels a day make a dent in the 21 million barrel a day consumption of oil by the United States? Probably not -- prices will stay high, especially as demand increases during the summer, when people go for their auto vacations.

The problem here is the perception, shared by both political parties, that high gas prices is something from which the American people need to be saved. For an example of this attitude, look no further than Senators McCain and Clinton, two of the three major presidential candidates, candidates from different political parties with supposedly deep ideological differences, reaching agreement on their call for a summer gas tax holiday. Removing the federal tax on gasoline would save the average consumer $30 over the three month summer- if oil companies don't just pocket the extra savings.

Senators Clinton and McCain, as well as the whole US Congress, are implicated in these shameless ploys to reduce gas prices, however slightly, for the American consumer. Never mind that we pay almost half of what Europeans pay for petrol. Never mind that our gas consumption is causing the world's largest environmental problem. Never mind the free market. What cannot be sacrificed is our holy right to cheap petroleum.

I sincerely hope that the decision to stop filling the strategic petroleum reserve does not lower prices one cent. I hope that high oil prices encourage American producers and consumers to find alternatives to petroleum, from riding bikes to plug in hybrids. After all, that's how a good market should work.