By Necisque Libertas

A lot of people have been wondering if their vote truly matters and if what they vote for has an impact on their daily lives.   Before I make any connections or assumptions on that questions, let’s look at some of the current events.  

  • Energy market
    • The average price of crude oil nearly doubled between 2020, @ 41.96 dollars a barrel, and 2021, @ 70.68 dollars a barrel. (1)  As of March 6th, crude oil cost 118.11 dollars a barrel, trending upward.  (2)
    • Gas prices are climbing upwards.  The average price per gallon in Utah has gone up significantly in the last week, from 3.404 dollars per gallon on Feb 27th, to 4.013 on March 8th. (3)
  • Foreign affairs
    • The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Feb 24th.  (4) 
    • Sanctions are being used by members of the North Atlantic Trade Organization as well as many other countries to weaken the Russian economy. (5) 
  • Local affairs
    • Clean Water Act regulations prevent certain uses, and/or development of private property in Idaho, California, and other states. (6)
    • Mexico-US border crisis creating local tensions. (7)

This list is missing many, many current events but it is all I need to argue my points.   

Starting at the top of the list, crude oil and gas prices have increased greatly since the election.  Under President Trump, the US achieved energy independence for the first time in 62 years. (8)  Gas prices achieved record lows for many states. (3) As soon as President Biden shut down construction on the Keystone Pipeline, and regulated others, prices began to rise and we no longer are energy independent.   The US is currently importing approximately 700,000 barrels per day of petroleum products from Russia. (9)

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, America continues to import Russian oil.  We, the citizens, are essentially paying for the Russian side of the conflict every day as we purchase gasoline and other petroleum-based products. 

There has been a trend over the past 10 years between Russia, the US, and Russian expansion.   In February and March of 2014 Russia “annexed” Crimea. (10) The US President was Barack Obama, a democrat.   Between 2016 and 2020 Russia made no moves against any neighboring countries, and relations almost seemed good. President Trump, Republican and very unpredictable, was in office during that period.  In 2021 tensions started to rise again between Russia and Ukraine began to rise.  In 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine yet again, supposedly to “liberate”.  President Biden, Democrat, very weak-minded, and predictable is in office.  Putin knows that nothing major will be dropped against him to stop his conquest.  

Under President Trump, many over regulatory measures were cut, including portions of the Clean Water Act.   This gave the decision-making process back to us, the landowners, rather than to a bureaucrat who likes to control things from a distance.  Under Biden, many of those regulations returned. (6)

The border crisis is pretty obvious.  It was a problem under Trump, but he paid attention to it and cut it back significantly.  Under Biden, it has become a big problem, and it has been largely ignored by the executive office.  

All these lead me to my point.  Who you vote for matters, and yes, it does affect you in your daily life.  I’m not here to try and get you to vote one way or another, however, I encourage you to get out and vote, and to study up on who you choose to vote for.   Americans have become lax, and are simply checking the box that votes one side or another.   That is how tyrants get into power.   

Learn to vote, research those you are voting for, and encourage everyone to do the same!  Oftentimes the best thing that can happen is when people with different viewpoints debate with each other.   Your vote matters, and your neighbors, and everyone you interact with.  We can change America for the better if we stand up for what we believe!

Bibliography

  1. Average crude oil price, Statista.com, https://www.statista.com/statistics/262860/uk-brent-crude-oil-price-changes-since-1976/ 
  2. Current crude oil price, oilprice.com, https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/#Brent-Crude
  3. Utah average gas prices, AAA gas prices, https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=UT 
  4. Russian invasion of Ukraine, Aljeezera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/2/timeline-week-one-of-russia-invasion-of-ukraine 
  5. Russian Sanctions, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60125659 
  6. WOTUS rules, KSL, https://www.ksl.com/article/50361857/what-is-wotus-supreme-court-to-review-controversial-water-rule 
  7. Mexico-US border tensions, Fox, https://www.foxnews.com/media/biden-sotu-border-security-brother-killed-illegal-immigrant 
  8. Energy independence, AEA, https://www.americanenergyalliance.org/2020/09/president-trump-has-kept-his-energy-promises-biden-wants-to-undo-them/ 
  9. US imports Russian oil, Aljazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/3/how-much-oil-does-the-us-import-from-russia 
  10. Annexation of Crimea, Brittanica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/The-crisis-in-Crimea-and-eastern-Ukraine