Everson: ‘Free market fills your tank; government empties it’

In a recent column for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Patrick Everson juxtaposes the wonders of free markets against the folly of government intervention in energy markets. As Everson puts it:

Plunging gas prices have provided millions of Americans with something they haven’t had in years: an effective pay raise. The average number of cars per household is around two, and the average American buys about 12 gallons of gas a week per vehicle. A $1 drop in the price of a gallon of gas saves that typical household $100 a month. Here in Las Vegas, the savings have been far greater. Gas averaged $3.85 a gallon in early July, and it’s now down to $2.20, a difference of $1.65. A two-car family with average fuel consumption in January saved $160.

And the left doesn’t want low gas prices, which is why the Obama administration consistently opposes drilling on federal land — including the 84 percent of Nevada the federal government owns. [Emphasis mine]

Everson is spot on. Gas prices have fallen by almost 50 percent in many areas thanks to America’s domestic energy producers, who are thriving despite a federal government that consistently tries to obstruct energy development. While oil production is up almost 80 percent since 2008, that is occurring only on state and private lands outside of federal control. On lands operated by the feds, energy production is actually down amid America’s record energy boom on private lands.

Click here to read Patrick Everson’s entire column for The Las Vegas Review-Journal.