The NOPEC Congressional Farce

The slick politicians of Congress recently passed a law which makes it illegal to take actions in restraint of trade in oil and gas which affect the supply and price of oil, gas, and gasoline in the United States. They posed that this would make it possible to sue OPEC, so the bill has come to be known as NOPEC. This is likely to have no significant effect on OPEC and its policies. But, Congress thinks this will make the American people think that it politicians are doing something about the price of oil, gas, and gasoline.

They have been working very hard in Congress for 30 years with increasing effect to increase the cost of oil, gas, and gasoline on many fronts. They have restricted the exploration for oil and gas, the development of oil and gas fields, the building of oil refineries, and required the use of costly and useless gasoline additives or substitutes. If Congressmen were not excluded from prosecution in lawsuits, the very legislation they just passed could and should be used against them. The law is always different for Congress men and women, however.

I am making a confident prediction that though this law was passed as an anti-OPEC law, it will be used far more often and effectively against American businessmen. It will be one more reason for them to fear government and it will drive up the cost of doing business in America. Congress and attorneys general will abuse this power, consistent with their record in so many other cases, such as legislation originally passed to fight racketeering.

The present price of oil, gas, and gasoline is significantly higher than need be, largely due to unreasonable environmental and climate change assessments. Congress wants the price of fuels to go up, so the public will use less of them. Many congressional politicians have literally said as much, while some pretend to be concerned about the higher costs even as they take actions in the name of reducing our carbon footprint which drive the costs upward. Meanwhile, American flora and fauna are prospering and there has been no global warming for 10 years. Scientists have observed that the sun will be providing the earth with less radiation over the next 10 years, which will cause global cooling. So people are being made to suffer for no reason at all.

Why do we not throw these rascals out of office? What is it that is too complex for us to understand here?