Nothing new under the sun…

I can remember when a gallon of gas spiked to $0.86/ gal in 1979.

The US was outraged. We limited highway speeds to 55 mph, were going to move to smaller more efficient cars, were so determined to become “independent” of foreign oil with off shore drilling and an Alaskan pipeline (which did create some really good jobs for a while).

Yeah, seems like that lasted about 3 years. Then, despite inflation and high interest rates, the 80s kicked in with exuberant spending and credit debt, totally squashing those fuel concerns.  This is the US. We love cheap gas, big SUVs, trucks, RVs, and personal vehicles like ATVs, motorcycles planes & boats. Somehow we’re entitled. We’ve always valued these things way more than having the collective will to do what’s necessary to become independent.

Same old, same old. (And no one’s saying that importing 600,000 barrels/day of sand tar through a new pipe from the country of Canada is will somehow be cheaper.)

The US has had 40 years to become independent of foreign petroleum, just not the motivation, the domestic resources, and will to do so. This is the USA. We love cheap gas pretty much more than anything else in the world – no matter where it comes from.