Preserve the Reserves

While I will admit that it’s a little bit too eerily ironic that, less than a week after my column berating NASCAR for wasting fuel, there’s speculation that President Barack Obama may tap the United States’ oil reserves, I am absolutely, positively, 110 percent opposed to that move. Whether or not it is being seriously considered, I don’t think it is the time to tap into the 727 million barrels of fuel that the U. S. government has stockpiled. Why? First of all, the Strategic Petroleum Reserves are there for emergencies. Though some Democrats are urging Obama to tap into and sell some of the petroleum in reserve, a letter written to the president states that doing so would “combat crippling price spikes in the short term.”

What about the long-term? Do we just use up those resources and merely hope that things get better? That doesn’t sound like a very solid solution, nor does it sound like a solution at all. Though the economy is still not in great shape and distress in the Middle East has sent oil prices soaring, I would find it immensely difficult to justify tapping into our supply. We’re not really in a state of emergency; the world is, as we know, a very unstable place to begin with. Besides, those fuel reserves, when accessed, would only be enough to supply the nation with gas for several months. Yes, that’s right, months. So why would we want to waste those reserves at the slightest flux in oil prices? Sure, paying $4 a gallon for gas, as is predicted, will be difficult for many, especially considering the economy is on the rebound from a recession. But, just because high gas prices may hinder the recovering economy, tapping our oil reserves likely would not make much difference at the pump.

When President George H. W. Bush sold over 10 million barrels from the reserves in 1990 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, prices dropped at first, then rose as fighting in the Persian Gulf continued. Only after war was waged did oil prices drop. I don’t consider that a very good alternative when the U. S. government could simply let the tension in Libya run its course. Originally created in 1973 due to an Arab oil embargo, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has also been tapped in other instances – most recently in response to hurricanes Ike, Gustav and Katrina. Those were emergencies. What we’re experiencing now is far from what could be classified as an emergency. Though the crisis in Libya has wreaked a lot of havoc in the way of fuel supply, it is likely just a temporary setback – nothing significant enough to warrant using up or selling reserve oil … at least not yet.

If history’s taught us anything, it’s that anything can happen. What’s to say there won’t be more turmoil yet to come in the Middle East for which we’ll need the reserves? And with the U. S. dollar consistently losing its value in comparison to other currencies, I think tapping the oil reserves now would be a severe detriment to this country. Clearly, there will be bigger fish to fry down the road, so the last thing we need is to eat up the oil we have for the mere benefit of saving a penny here or a nickel there.

Jennie Oemig
Staff Writer
Trempealeau County Times