Refineries - about damn time.

Finally, the gov't is doing something about increasing our refinery capacity. People can bitch and moan about reducing our dependence on foreign oil 'till their blue in the face for all I care. Foreign oil is where it's at for the short and medium term (i.e. next 100 years).

It's a little known secret that the reason the cost of gas is so high at the pump is because of the bottleneck at the refineries. Increasing the number of refineries will lower the price of gas for consumers - obviously not overnight, and probably not for a good 3-5 years.

This Slate article does a good job summarizing why the real villians in the rise of gas prices are the refiners, not OPEC and not the local gas station. Why are more refineries good? Current refineries are running at 94 percent capacity, and have no domestic competition. The largest independent refiner, Valero, saw its stock rise 226 percent in the past year. Here's another good article on the need for greater refinery capacity. Capitalism requires competition in order to hold down prices and not drive the economy downward.

There are those who contend otherwise, and argue that building more refineries is sacrificing the environment to the benefit of oil companies. Maybe - but only a little bit. I'm willing to accept some environmental sacrifice from time-to-time, so long as it's reasonable and necessary. This is. Will oil companies make more money? Maybe, but I'm okay with that. I would rather see them make money on volume rather than margin, because at least I know I'm not getting screwed in the process. If they get richer - good for them. Wish I was one of 'em.