Gas Prices Aren't Coming Down

[From 8/8/08, in response to a Peter Bronson column about gas prices.]

To the editor:

Contra Peter Bronson (“Democrats actually worked against the president,” August 7), no reputable economist believes that lifting the bans on offshore drilling “could reduce gas prices dramatically.” Virtually all experts acknowledge that the real impact on gas prices would be no more than five or six cents, and would go unrealized for as much as a decade.

If Bronson—or an Enquirer reader—can direct me to an economist who actually argues that permitting offshore drilling will reduce gas prices by more than a few pennies, I’m all ears.