You may have noticed that fuel has gone through the roof again. Why? The answer is never easy. Unrest in the Middle East. Higher demand. Refineries closed due to coastal storms. All of these things factor in. What can we do about it? One state is doing something about it.
If you’re complaining that you can’t find a job, I have two words for you: North Dakota. What you may not have noticed unless you live there is there is an oil boom going on in North Dakota. Billions of dollars are flowing into the state. McDonald’s is so desperate for workers they’re paying $15 per hour plus signing bonuses, in some cases. North Dakota should be an example for the rest of the country but it’s being widely ignored, if not derided, by the mainstream media.
A piece by Minnesota Public Radio lamented the oil boom was severely straining North Dakota’s economy. The recent spike in oil production, which has positioned North Dakota second only to Texas, is causing a worker shortage. This, as MPR puts it, “is putting a lot of pressure on businesses.” The rest of the country should be so pressured. “Communities struggle with the frenetic pace of growth,” they say and they fret over the “uncertainty.”
What North Dakota needs is workers. Per-person income is now above the national average for the first time since the 1970s. People are living in campers because of the lack of enough apartments and houses which means a rich environment for those in the home-building trade.
The Huffington Post reported that with wealth comes worry. The average wage in boomtown Williston, N.D., was $32,000 in 2006. It’s now over $80,000. The unemployment rate is 1 percent and that’s really a statistical glitch. There are 3,000 unfilled jobs in Williston.
One paper sported this headline: “North Dakota oil boom bringing jobs, wealth—and a looming humanitarian crisis.” What is the so-called “humanitarian crisis”? They whine that “some have been forced to live hundreds of miles away while one member works in the energy industry.” Boo-frickety-hoo. Sometimes I think liberals are just incapable of being happy.
What’s interesting is this boom is driven by the private sector. This is oil found by oil companies on private land. The federal government owns vast swaths of public land that it has placed out of reach to oil production. Imagine the oil boom across many parts of this country if only a fraction of that land were opened to production. Why is it people are standing in the way of our becoming energy independent? Because these dirt people believe oil is evil. They do not want us to be energy independent. They want us to be energy poor. Unfortunately, our current president is one of them. It’s time to start going around these people and their media mouthpieces.
Delta Airlines is doing just that. To combat the rising cost of jet fuel they have invested in their very own oil refinery. They’re reopening a refinery in Trainer, Pa., and plan to use the oil being pumped out of the ground in North Dakota. By putting this refinery back online, Delta plans to save $300 million a year in jet fuel costs. A side effect would be more gasoline for automobiles from that very refinery.
Delta is meeting their energy needs head-on. Instead of waiting for the government or even the oil industry to bring more refineries online they have done it themselves. Imagine if that same scenario were replicated across the entire country.
If Delta can do it, why can’t we?
