(06-03-2018, 03:11 PM)mikesez Wrote: That's not true.
Domestic energy got significantly cheaper starting in the early 2010s because of fracking.
We use the least expensive energy available.
Coal is heavy and natural gas has to be stored at extremely low temperatures or extremely high pressures. But oil can easily be shipped around the world at standard temperature and pressure. It can easily be poured from a barrel that says "Made in Iran" to a barrel that says "Made in Saudi Arabia."
If oil is the least expensive energy available, we will use oil from the country that produces it at the least expense regardless of if we like that country or not.
Our economy is indeed benefiting from the extremely cheap Natural Gas. And our economy would also benefit if internationally we were the least expensive producer of oil.  But there has been no direct effort from our government to avoid using mid East energy. Obama doesn't deserve credit for the economy of fracking any more than Al Gore deserved credit for the internet.  In both cases those who took risks employing smart people to work many years perfecting those things, with little to no short-term return, deserve the credit. But Trump doesn't deserve any credit for this kind of thing either.