Before anyone burns me in effigy, let me assure you that, in this election, I'm very much heavily leaning in Barack Obama's direction. The truth is though, I'm tired of hearing the argument against coastal drilling, and drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). At least, I'm tired of hearing people proclaim the ridiculousness of oil drilling because the oil is limited and won't be on the commodities market for at least seven years. Even Obama's campaign is guilty of turning up their nose at this suggestion.

I say: so what?

First, John McCain's policy on coastal drilling simply lifts the ban on it. He leaves the actual decision to drill up to the policy makers of the individual states. This means that the people in those states have the say on whether drilling occurs or not, as they should.

I'm also going to point out that I'm against drilling in ANWR, but you know what? It shouldn't be my decision. Let's leave drilling in ANWR up to the people of Alaska in much same way that coastal drilling should be.

The truth is that whether it provides a drop of oil tomorrow or seven years from now is a non-issue. The very drilling might never have to take place. I've been reading about the rising prices of oil for the last two years - at least - and I can't find one valid reason for why oil is going up in price. Demand might be up, but then again, supplies ARE NOT low. How can they be when OPEC restricts pumping and refineries are running at 80% capacity? Additionally, the last time OPEC did release more oil, it sold meagerly. We've blamed prices on OPEC. We've blamed prices on a weak dollar. We've blamed prices on the Iraq conflict. But the truth is, there is NO oil shortage, and no real reason for high gas prices. The problem lies in the hands of would-be speculators trying to make a quick buck in investments.

Speculative house buying brought the housing industry crashing down, so I guess these wannabe Wall Street yuppies are now sinking their uninformed cash into the commodities market.

Here's a case in point. Some German financial investor stands up and says that he expects prices to reach $150 dollars a barrel by July 4th. Oil then rises roughly $11.00 a barrel the two days following that comment. $11.00 just on one man's word alone. By the way, oil never reached $150.00 a barrel by July 4th, so that dick head was wrong - yet oil didn't drop immediately $11.00 because of it.

Words matter when it comes to speculation, whether the words are true or not. The threat of a greater supply is enough to scare speculators away from oil. The supply never really has to come.

I always said that the president needs to stand up and demand that all cars be moved off of oil within five years, or else all cars companies selling vehicles in the US would be penalized come tax time. This statement alone would shock the price of oil, as well as put car and oil companies in a panick to find a solution. This is how you strike back at speculators.

So drilling in ANWR or on the coast may not actually produce ANY significant "real world" change in the oil industry; but if words alone and NOT reason can cause oil prices to rise, then the mere mention of an increase in US efforts to become energy independent should have the reverse effect.

This is NOT to say that drilling for more oil is the answer. It IS NOT. It should, however, create fluctuation in the oil market; and at the very least, this fluctuation in prices from both sides, should be enough to prove the ridiculousness of this fake oil shortage, and the damaging role of lame-brain speculators in the commodities market. And while we're all waiting on those electric cars, maybe we can do something about them.

[Author's Note: This essay was originally published under the pseudonym Mister Resistor for the online counterculture magazine Key 64.]