Oil firms are the only innocents here

Class envy is an old game in politics and politicians play it well. Especially when it involves an easy target like oil company executives. Politicians forget less than a decade ago the price of oil hovered around $8 a barrel.

But this is 2008 and high prices at the pump and budget-busting home heating bills provide the perfect opportunity for vote-seeking politicians to demonize the industry.

But is the industry really to blame for rising energy costs?

Environmentalists, not oil companies prevent drilling in ANWR, fight drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea, and block drilling off Florida's coast. These policies limit U.S. supply and force us to import more than 12 million barrels of oil a day.

Environmentalists, not oil companies, fight to block the building of U.S. refineries.

Environmentalists also lead the charge against the most efficient and cheap energy available: nuclear power.

And then there are dictators like Hugo Chavez, not the oil industry, that tie the hands of the producers. That lowers supply, increases demand and drives up prices.

Adding to the supply crunch are greedy, corrupt leaders like those in Russia, not oil executives.

And then there are socialists like our own governor, who raised production taxes on the industry 400 per cent. Our governor also passes legislation that helps keep producers from building a gas pipeline.

More supply is the key to lower prices and when it comes to supply oil companies want to drill, drill, drill. But environmentalists and politicians like our governor get in their way.

We never hear those on the left mention any of this when talking about high energy costs. But blaming the oil industry is typical with the left. The left loathes the industry. They blame it for global warming. Liberals believe oil producers present a clear and present danger to their god, Mother Earth.

Those in the media have clearly joined in on the side of environmentalists in the war against the oil industry. You can tell by the way the media refer to both sides. Environmentalists are now conservationists. The oil industry is now big oil. Big bad oil!

Liberals in the media are also quick to jump to cover the mistakes of the industry. If a producer drips an ounce of oil on a blade of grass the media swoop in with live trucks, helicopters and a regiment of reporters. It's a circus.

The danger of all this anti-oil populism is it leads to a shift of power from the private sector to government. Government-owned oil agencies now control about 90 per cent of the world's petroleum reserves. Fourteen of the top 20 upstream oil and gas companies in the world are now government controlled.

Everyone likes to blame big bad Exxon for high prices as though Exxon can control prices. There are 14 oil companies, most of them government-controlled, with more oil reserves than Exxon.

And it is only going to get worse. Investor owned oil firms like Exxon, Chevron and Shell are buying back their stock instead of increasing their reserves.

Governments and politicians make it more difficult for investor-owned companies to drill with higher taxes and the threat of unstable regimes.

What politicians like Palin and others don't understand is the more difficult they make it for private-sector oil companies to meet U.S energy needs, the more power they transfer to government-owned oil producers in other countries.

Many of these governments are led by dictators who would love nothing more than seeing the United States come begging for energy.

Every time a U.S. politician raises taxes on the industry, passes an anti-drilling law or caves to an environmentalist, the cost of heating your home and filling up your tank goes up.

It also weakens us as a nation.

Dan Fagan is a talk show host on KFQD 750-AM. His e-mail is dan@kfqd.com.