Export ban means more B-777s for us

RECENTLY, NEW MEXICANS were deluged with radio and television ads from the Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy (CRUDE) Coalition asking us to lobby our U.S. senators to continue the prohibition of the export of U.S. crude oil. The gist of their message was that U.S. energy prices would rise if Congress was to repeal the export prohibition. Despite this argument, on Dec. 18, the president signed legislation that did, in fact, repeal the ban.

Using the logic of CRUDE, we could achieve across-theboard reductions in costs for consumers if we would only restrict the export of other products, too. Is the price of bread too high? Just prohibit the export of wheat. Don’t like paying high prices for automobiles? Then don’t allow GM, Ford and Chrysler to sell their cars outside of the U.S. Think the cost of a B-777 is too high? Then don’t allow Boeing to sell aircraft to European and Asian airlines. Why stop there? Think of how low things would cost if we just built a wall around our border and didn’t allow the export of anything. Why, I could pick up a B-777 for a song and work on my airline type rating in my spare time! Win, win!

If you think this sounds absurd, then you are a step ahead of the CRUDE bunch who seem to have a very flawed view of how international trade works. A quick review of the CRUDE Coalition website will reveal that the four companies named as members are all refiners of petroleum products. The “C” in CRUDE stands for “consumer,” but there isn’t a consumer to be found on the website. Before buying into the flawed logic of CRUDE, we should find out what game they are playing.

JAMES TERRY

Albuquerque