America's Strategic Petroleum Reserves

America is rapidly approaching the summer driving season. Gasoline prices are at or near their all time highs around the country. Many people expect that the price of gasoline will remain high, or might go even higher over the summer. Many Americans find high prices to be an inconvenience. Independent truck drivers and others that consume significant amounts of fuel find the current situation to be far more than an inconvenience. For many people, the high cost of gasoline represents a severe economic hardship. Some people have suggested that the United States should release some or all of the nation's strategic petroleum reserve in an effort to reduce the cost of gasoline. I believe this is a bad idea, and will not have the desired results in the long term.

There are those that would argue that even short-term relief from high gasoline prices is preferable to no assistance from the federal government. Their line of reasoning would probably be that the people at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder in the United States simply cannot afford to wait months or years for changes in oil production or consumption to bring prices down. One alternative to releasing a portion of the nation's strategic petroleum reserve which would, nevertheless, address part of the current problem would be to reduce or eliminate the federal and state taxes charged to consumers at the gas pump for fuel. Another alternative would involve reducing the ta