Vacationing White House and EPA officials will get a taste of their own medicine this summer when East Coast gas prices spike thanks in part to their restrictive policies.
Analysts are predicting a record spike in pump prices starting in June, with 50% of East Coast refinery capacity now shut down due in part to costly EPA regulations. And there’s no quick way to resupply that lost gas via refineries in Louisiana and Texas, thanks to EPA restrictions on new pipelines.
Instead of blaming Wall Street “speculators” for the gas crisis, President Obama needs to call off his EPA regulators and make it easier for East Coast gas refiners to upgrade plants or build new ones, as well as for Gulf Coast suppliers to pipe in gas to the fuel-starved region.
The untold story behind soaring pump prices is that major U.S. refineries are going out of business and creating regional shortages. In just the past six months, three refineries — including two owned by Sunoco Inc. — supplying about half the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to the East Coast have closed. They say they simply cannot make money anymore.
Philadelphia-based Sunoco’s refinery business in the Northeast has lost almost $1 billion over three years as demand for gas fell and the cost of foreign crude soared. But over the same period, it had to shell out “significant expenditures for environmental projects and compliance activities” to satisfy onerous EPA mandates, according to the company’s latest 10-K report.
In fact, it’s spent more than $1.3 billion just to comply with stricter EPA rules, which carry stiff fines or penalties for violations. Sunoco fretted that these regulatory costs would grow exponentially under the Obama administration, which has hit some refineries with fines.
“During 2009, the EPA indicated that it intends to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, (which) could result in increases in costs to operate and maintain the company’s facilities, as well as capital outlays for new emission-control equipment at these facilities,” the company warned in its 2011 report filed with the SEC.
“Compliance with current and future environmental laws and regulations likely will require us to make significant expenditures, increasing the overall cost of operating our businesses, including capital costs to construct, maintain and upgrade equipment and facilities,” it added. “To the extent these expenditures are not ultimately reflected in the prices of our products or services, our operating results would be adversely affected.”
Why should this be a surprise.
What we have in Washington are a bunch of progressive \ liberal pinheads who are more concerned about their own bottom line, rather than what is in the best interests of this country ( this includes both democrats and republicans). Their votes need to put on record so the people can see who they are voting for ( if the people even care)
Wait until the brown-outs start from coal powerplant shut-downs. I’d like to think that replaceing Obysmal this Fall will move things back to center rapidly, but with a RINO in the White House I’m not sanguine about it.
Does anyone have the capability of monitoring whether the boutique fuels required for summer use is being implemented this year? The Obama administration will do anything to get re-elected this fall. One way to keep gas prices down is to forgo the changing in gasoline composition in the summer to reduce ozone production.
I have read we don’t need this change anymore because all cars on the road today use fuel injection; so fuel combustion does not make ozone producing exhausts. so if the fuel change does not take place, we would notice no difference in air pollution anyway.
I am predicting little if no increase in gas prices this summer in order to aid President Obama’s re-election. Europe wants his re-election because he supports their AGW views. Middle East oil producers support his re-election because President Obama is their friend. So the EU and U. S. can release oil from the strategic reserves and oil prices can temporarity go down for the election this fall.
Republicans should be wary using high gasoline prices and unemployment as campaign issues this fall. Both of these factors can be temporarily changed by government intervention and it will happen if deemed necessary. The Republicans will be left holding an empty bag for campaign issues. I have little faith in the Republicans using common sense.
As an added thought, the Republicans should target all Democrats who voted against starting oil drilling in ANWR in a vote in 2002. If drilling had been started, we would benefit by an extra million barrels per day of domestic oil production now. As it is there is no oil and the Alaskan pipeline is under risk of being shutdown because reduced oil production may cause the pipeline stop flowing and it will never be able to restart.