Barack Obama, a Democrat, was against it Mostly Republican proposals to allow offshore drilling and exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge also received attention These measures were unlikely to have much affect on gas prices, especially in the short-term For example, the federal government would normally in a two-month period deposit 10 million gallons of gasoline in the strategic reserve; consumption in the United States is about 20 million gallons of gasoline per day World gasoline consumption is about 87 million gallons per day Putting an additional 10 million gallons into a global market which will consume about billion gallons in a 60-day period is not likely to have any measurable impact The higher oil prices were very good for oil companies Exxon Mobil, the largest publicly traded oil company in the United States, reported profits of nearly $11 billion for the first quarter of 2008 Whenever oil prices rise sharply, there are always cries of “price gouging.” But, repeated federal investigations of the industry have failed to produce any evidence that such gouging has occurred Meanwhile, market forces responding to the higher gasoline prices are already at work Gasoline producers are looking at cellulosic ethanol, which can be produced from materials such as wood chips, corn stalks, and rice straw Automobile producers are examining “plug-in” hybrids—cars whose batteries could be charged not just by driving but by plugging the car in a garage The goal is to have a car that could go some distance on its battery before starting to use any gasoline Consumers are doing their part Gasoline consumption in the United States fell more than 4% by the summer of 2008 from its level one year earlier Attributed to Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books/ Saylor.org 803