Republican drive to energy independence lack common sense without lower cost to consumers.

[pwb]

High inventories should mean lower prices but look what we all experienced this recent winter. Highest prices ever for natural gas even with record high inventories.

Wall street and the republican energy families bid up the price no matter how much of a glut there is.

The keystone pipeline will not guarantee lower prices for consumers just as record gluts of all fuels have not lowered prices.

We should see some signs of energy stability from all this energy discovery, at least no more seasonal price changes, or spikes every time the middle east has a hiccup, or we have a hurricane threat. Give the American people energy stability and lower prices.

We are moving away from your old energy with car batteries and solar and your actions with cost are really helping us to leave your old fuel behind.

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. Energy independence is a fantasy

it's not going to happen unless the USA makes some major gains in efficiency. And electric cars? Pfft. 80% of US electricity generation comes from coal and natural gas.

Regarding natural gas prices? Very cold weather in localised regions of the country leads to regional price increases. That's supply and demand--there may be record inventories but they have to be accessible where there's demand; record inventories of gas in Oklahoma don't help keep prices down in New England when there are pipeline constraints.

Also there is not in fact a record glut of "all fuels". Conventional oil production peaked around 2005 and has been on a plateau since then. The official numbers for oil production, what's called "all liquids", actually include things like ethanol and natural gas liquids (which aren't, in fact, oil). See this, for instance: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Did-Crude-Oil-Production-Actually-Peak-in-2005.html