Democrats out of touch on energy

NY Post Editorial:

Funny how quickly $4-a-gallon gas can smoke out hypocrites - as last week's Pew Research poll, citing a dramatic spike in the share of Americans demanding more energy sources and less environmental protection, shows.

The nation, it seems, now favors developing new sources over "saving the planet" by a hefty 3-2 margin.

And get this: The biggest shift came among - yep! - liberals.

Seems sanctimonious tree-huggers and caribou-coddlers have their price: $4 gas.

The percentage of those on the left who see energy expansion as the bigger priority more than doubled, from 22 to 45 percent, in just the past four months.

We wonder how many tree-huggers will reach for their chainsaws if gas hits $5 or higher. (At six bucks, it'll be every caribou for himself up in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.)

Meanwhile, Democratic pols like New York Sen. Chuck Schumer continue to pooh-pooh new domestic oil drilling - claiming it won't bring prices down anytime soon, because it takes too long to bring newfound supplies to the market.

They couldn't be more wrong.

As Reagan-era economic advisor Martin Feldstein noted last week in a Wall Street Journal oped, "We Can Lower Oil Prices Now," you don't need more oil on the market today to nudge down prices today.

All that's required (to simplify his point) is for oil producers to expect more oil (or less demand) at some point in the future.

That in itself, he says, may be enough to trigger a price plunge immediately.

Indeed, any steps to boost supplies, such as easing the offshore-drilling ban, can lower prices right away.

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Alas, no number of rebuttals - or actual facts - will change some Democrats' minds. They're just not interested in lower oil prices - not if some caribou is inconvenienced.

Dems are welcome to their priorities, even if it goes against those of more and more Americans - even liberals.

But they're absolutely wrong to claim that efforts to boost domestic oil production can't bring prices down soon.

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Being a Democrat means never having to admit you are wrong about anything. They are clearly wrong on energy and the market for it. They have been clearly wrong about the surge in Iraq. don't hold your breath waiting for them to admit it. The only way to change things is to vote against Democrats at every opportunity.