We have all known something was up with the high gas prices. We knew something smelled rotten. We understood that tensions in the Middle East, Katrina, an Oil Man in the White House, and lack of refining capacity could have been contributing to the high oil prices.

But when the Oil Companies kept turing in record profits, something didn't compute. Where was the money going? It's not like it costs the Oil Companies more money to produce that barrel of oil. It's not like the Oil Companies are pouring all their profit in to exploration, building more refineries, and improving supply lines in order to secure America's energy needs.

Well, now we can rest easy knowing why Big Oil and Government have colluded to fuck us over at the pump once again.

House approves bill to lift ban on offshore drilling

By Larry Wheeler, Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON — Anxious to show voters back home that Congress can do something about high gas prices, House lawmakers approved legislation Thursday that would expand drilling for oil and natural gas off most of the U.S. coast and Alaska.

The bill, which passed on a 232-187 vote, would end a ban on new domestic offshore drilling that for 25 years confined such activity almost exclusively to the western and central Gulf of Mexico.
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"Americans are desperate for real energy solutions," said Lydia Weiss, a lobbyist for Defenders of Wildlife. "These are not real energy solutions. Drilling off shore will not help meet our energy needs. "

Those concerns seemed to carry little weight as bill supporters anticipated victory during the afternoon debate.

"Show me a natural gas well that has ever polluted a beach," said Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., one of the primary authors of the legislation. "This country cannot compete in the global marketplace without affordable natural gas. Natural gas is a commodity this country is rich in and the Outer Continental Shelf is loaded."

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It's the 1970's all over. We have rampant inflation and runaway gas prices. Only this time, the motivation is not getting legislation through Congress to allow for the building of the Alaska Pipeline. This time it's to get Congress to ok offshore oil drilling ubiquitously off the coast of the U.S.

Either way it's about greed, profit, and maintaining oil as our primary energy source rather than focusing on developing alternatives.