OR......save OUR oil for our kids and grandchildren. Let's use everyone elses oil while we are the militarily superior nation. Once we've used theirs, we can use our own or sell some at exorbitent prices. Their oil is cheap compared to what it will be worth in the future. In the future, our oil will command a higher price. Most of the world has been paying more than $4 a gallon for gas for many, many years. We're just not accustomed to it.
Drilling in the US isn't going to lower pricing very much, if any. The investment costs of doing that would have to trickle down, and it would take years before we'd see a barrel of US crude on the market.
We would be wise to spend money to get off of crude, or vastly limit it's usage. It would be beneficial to the environment, as well as our pocket books in the long term.
A US company could develop the next cheap energy, and then explode overnight from world demand. That would return value to the United States, as well as foreign investment, USD revitalization, and a stronger economic outlook for us (read: stability).
We are only 370 Million odd people that use gasoline. There's 1.4 Billion people that are being quickly ramped up into the driving era in China. They soon will match the demand in the US, and then exceed it. The days of cheap oil are gone, period. The only places in the world with cheap oil are the middle eastern OPEC countries, and it's cheap because they subsidize the cost with their profits.
In short, it doesn't matter what we do or don't do... no one will control China. It's the reason we haven't agreed to the Kyoto protocol; because it does not limit China and India. If the two largest populations in the world do not abide by a global agreement then we are doomed anyways. Might as well enjoy it while we are still around.
China is one of the main reasons fuel is so high, especially diesel. I filled up the truck yesterday for 4.51/gal (diesel) and the two 5gal gas can for the bikes, $95 in a 5min stop
Sure sure, buy cheap from China, but they're going to make our costs rise regardless while they suck up the resources to provide us with those products.