[rollo tomasi]

How can markets be free if industries have thousands of government regulations and restrictions placed on it?

The politicians are too busy enjoying their perks rather than looking to fortify the future for Americans.

So all the sudden China and India sneak up on us? BS, we should have been drilling more and producing refineries decades ago due to the obvious factors that these two highly populated nations were progressing and would demand more oil.

No nukes, no drilling in certain potential high volume areas, no new refineries, hypocritical stance on alternative energy=bad planning.

Way to go DC, years of staring this problem in the face but would rather place even more restrictions on the "free market".[End of rant, back to work]

[lepton]

we should have been drilling more and producing refineries decades ago due to the obvious factors that these two highly populated nations were progressing and would demand more oil.

Ummmm. Refineries don't produce oil, and our number of refineries has nothing to do with China's or India's oil usage. We should have been allowing refineries to be built because we use more refined products.

Our limit is a combination of NIMBY and EPA regulations - and under Clinton the government produced many ridiculous interpretations of regulations that actually took refinery capacity off-line.