2008 Woodie Awards
More factors than Bush to blame for fluctuating oil prices
Commentary
Manuel Carillo III
Issue date: 10/12/06 Section: Editorial
Commentary by
Manuel Carillo III
The Poly Post
(U-WIRE) POMONA, Calif. - Happy days are here again! Gas prices continue to fall!
Well, let's not be so sure of ourselves.
Many of us would love to believe that all this gas price nonsense has something to do with the Bush administration.
It's akin to past presidencies where the public tries to blame the state of the economy on its respective governing authority. For many, it's just an easier way of thinking.
The opinion polls support this notion. USA Today recently found that two in five Americans believe the Bush administration is involved with gas price manipulation.
Statisticians have been studying correlations between approval rating and pump prices.
Their data has shown that as gas prices decrease, the number of Bush-lovers increases.
If you're guessing that Bush's approval rating has been higher recently, you're right. The most recent USA Today poll has reported 44 percent of Americans are into Bush. This highest approval number came at a time when gas prices had been their lowest since March.
But eventually we must consider reality, paying close attention to the following: the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Ah yes, the infamous OPEC. Founded in 1960 to coordinate the policies of oil exporting nations, OPEC has certainly been a force to be reckoned with in terms of gas prices since 1973, when OPEC started to raise prices in retaliation of Western support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
Although many of us are lucky enough not to remember the first major gas crunch, all of us are unlucky enough to be living in a time when there's a gas crisis around every corner.
Since 1973, efforts have been made to reduce dependence on oil supplied by members of OPEC. Alternative energy research and oil imports from non-OPEC countries have collectively reduced OPEC's influence.
Yet it must be considered that OPEC still possesses about two-thirds of the world's oil.
Manuel Carillo III
The Poly Post
(U-WIRE) POMONA, Calif. - Happy days are here again! Gas prices continue to fall!
Well, let's not be so sure of ourselves.
Many of us would love to believe that all this gas price nonsense has something to do with the Bush administration.
It's akin to past presidencies where the public tries to blame the state of the economy on its respective governing authority. For many, it's just an easier way of thinking.
The opinion polls support this notion. USA Today recently found that two in five Americans believe the Bush administration is involved with gas price manipulation.
Statisticians have been studying correlations between approval rating and pump prices.
Their data has shown that as gas prices decrease, the number of Bush-lovers increases.
If you're guessing that Bush's approval rating has been higher recently, you're right. The most recent USA Today poll has reported 44 percent of Americans are into Bush. This highest approval number came at a time when gas prices had been their lowest since March.
But eventually we must consider reality, paying close attention to the following: the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Ah yes, the infamous OPEC. Founded in 1960 to coordinate the policies of oil exporting nations, OPEC has certainly been a force to be reckoned with in terms of gas prices since 1973, when OPEC started to raise prices in retaliation of Western support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
Although many of us are lucky enough not to remember the first major gas crunch, all of us are unlucky enough to be living in a time when there's a gas crisis around every corner.
Since 1973, efforts have been made to reduce dependence on oil supplied by members of OPEC. Alternative energy research and oil imports from non-OPEC countries have collectively reduced OPEC's influence.
Yet it must be considered that OPEC still possesses about two-thirds of the world's oil.
