“Why pump prices need to stay high”

We’ve already looked at some of the reasons oil prices are high. The Christian Science Monitor has an op/ed on why they need to stay high,

Driving less? More than two-thirds of car owners already are. It’s a natural reflex to $50-$70 tank fill-ups. But US drivers may also know it’s time to pay a price to curb global warming. That may be one reason they reject the campaign stunt of urging a holiday for the federal gas tax. [emphasis mine]

So if they reject gas tax holiday, will they resist the equally nonsensical freeze of pumping into the strategic reserves?

The Senate voted 97-1 to suspend the shipments for the rest of the year. Hours later, the House followed suit, voting 385-25 to halt the deliveries. The votes don’t compel Bush to act because the measures differ somewhat and would need to be reconciled before final congressional approval.

Still the votes were symbolic, in their strong bipartisan support, of lawmakers’ frustrations at not being able to agree on anything more substantive in response to public anger over near $4 a gallon gasoline and oil prices in the $125 a barrel range. [emphasis mine]

Sen. Pete Domenici said

…make no bones about it, this is no big energy policy. This is one little thing we can do.

Well, there’s more, bigger stuff they can do, but they don’t want to. Especially the Democrats.