Republicans like to run around shrieking about how if we'd just drill, baby, drill gas prices would magically go down. Overnight.
But that's totally false. Check out the graph above that shows that there is absolutely NO correlation between increases in drilling and gas prices. I know, it's soooo hard to believe. No correlation. At all. None. Zilch.
From Think Progress and the Associated Press:
U.S. oil production is back to the same level it was in March 2003, when gas cost $2.10 per gallon when adjusted for inflation. But that’s not what prices are now.
That’s because oil is a global commodity and U.S. production has only a tiny influence on supply. Factors far beyond the control of a nation or a president dictate the price of gasoline.
When you put the inflation-adjusted price of gas on the same chart as U.S. oil production since 1976, the numbers sometimes go in the same direction, sometimes in opposite directions. If drilling for more oil meant lower prices, the lines on the chart would consistently go in opposite directions. A basic statistical measure of correlation found no link between the two, and outside statistical experts confirmed those calculations.
Looks like this is just another in a long line of facts that are really, really hard for republicans to wrap their brains around.
