With respect to off shore drilling....yeah, great idea. Unfortunately it is going to take years to produce results. In addition I think we need more immediate results. ...development of alternative means of energy...

I'm afraid I'm at a loss to understand your line of reasoning, F. Lee.  First, you argue that offshore drilling--a strategy that we know can produce results within ten years--will take too long, then on the other hand, you say that development of alternative energy sources--using economically unfeasable technologies which are decades away from producing anything like a workable solution--is the more "immediate" answer.

The oil prices being touted in the media are futures prices.  Futures contracts are agreements to sell a stated quantity of oil at a set price on a set date.  The value of those contracts rises and falls in response to changing market conditions.  For example, right after President Bush announced that he was lifting the Executive Order banning offshore drilling, oil prices dropped by $6.45 per barrel, the largest single-day price drop since 1991.  It's hovering around $125.00 per barrel now, down from a record high of almost $148.00.  The AAA predicts that gasoline prices could fall by as much as .25¢ per gallon by Labor Day.  If Congress were smart (I realize that's a stretch), it would lift its offshore drilling ban before its August recess.  I'm willing to bet we'd see $2.00 a gallon gasoline just in time for the November election.

How's that for immediate?