American Oil
English
Ivy Tech Community College
10 July 2012

Driving down the road, passing gas station after gas station, seeing that the price of gasoline is $3.75, $3.84, and $3.96, knowing that it is only going to increase. From small business owners, to everyday people trying to get to work or take their children to school, it is easy to realize that gas prices have doubled in the past couple of years. It is taking such a great toll on our daily lives and our country. Actions need to be taken soon so out country can get back on its feet. Some solutions that should be taken are; more offshore oil drilling, government regulated oil economy, and for the Obama Administration to give the OK on the proposed keystone XL pipeline. With these solutions it will increase American Oil production and therefore decrease American gas prices. The first solution would be to create more offshore drilling for energy. The Outer Continental Shelf, (OCS), supplies the most oil and natural gas than any other in the world. Creating more active oil produce off the coast of the United States by: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, and Alaska, we could help the OCS bring in more energy for the U.S. “The Energy Information Administration (EIA), reports that Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas are the only costal states that provide access to all or almost all of their offshore energy resources. Only two additional states, Alaska and California, are producing any offshore energy supplies” (Independent Statistics and Analysis). If the U.S. was to create new offshore drilling, it would create more jobs there and for the onshore drilling as well. Another solution for the high gas prices would be to have a government regulated oil economy. In the late 1970’s, there was a Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA), that was made where we first started having shortages on oil. The price controls that had been put in place by the National Energy Act (NEA), was to protect all consumers from losing money but it was actually hurting consumers from the shortage in natural gas. The NGPA was to help the federal government gain control over the shortages by; creating a single national natural gas company, allowing the market to establish the price of natural gas, and equalizing the supply and demand. With the government’s help of regulating the market, we could get our country back on its feet and have a brighter future by having a controlled natural energy system again. The final solution that could take place to help lower gas prices would be for the Keystone XL Pipeline to go in. It would be the safest and most efficient way to produce more oil in North America. It wouldn’t just be bringing in oil; it would be creating more jobs and the economic help that we need. “The Keystone XL Pipeline Project is a proposed 1,179 mile, 36-inch-diameter crude oil pipeline beginning in Hardisty, Alberta, and extending south in Steele City, Nebraska” (State Impact). With the Keystone XL Pipeline being so large it would create about 8 to 9,000 more workers. The project would provide work for construction, welders, mechanics, and much more. “The Canadian Energy Research Institute predicts that Keystone XL will add $172 billion to America’s gross domestic product by 2035 and will create an additional 1.8 billion person years of