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Kelsie Newman Mr.Wimmer February 23, 2012 Economic Transformations

Fear of Iran is inflating gas prices February 23, 2012: 11:52 AM ET

-Did the gas prices rise because of the oil leak? -Why cant Obama have a bigger say in the cost of gas, if were the ones consuming it from them? -If we stop getting oil from Iran, would there be a war between us? -When the gas prices rise, will more Americans become conservative? -How can this all be resolved without causing more problems? Deepwater Horizon accident | BP ."//BP Global | BP//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. .
 * Summary:** Gas prices have increased over ten percent in the last two months, and experts say that they have only just begun to rise. Tensions with Iraq are adding a minimum of 30 cents per gallon in theUnited States. OPEC is actually producing more oil then it needs to, but the demand for gas in the U.S. is at its lowest in decades; due to the recession and better fuel efficient cars. The United States fear that the Iranians will cut off our 2.2 million barrels we receive daily and not have a way to get gas. Although the barrels are already being sanctioned, they still find their way in the market. The even bigger fear is that the Israeli’s will attack our other main oil provider, the flow through the Strait of Hormuz due to competition and the demand of oil trade. Gas is predicted to rise to even higher prices, like they did in 2008; when gas was a whooping $4.11. The Obama Administration has been trying to talk down prices, but with Iran wanting to attack Israel, $4.00 would look cheap compared to how they would look if they attacked. We would be looking at over $5.00 per gallon.
 * Relevance:** For years now the gas prices have been at an all time high. Due to oil trade problems and even due the oil spills. The BP oil spill in theGulf of Mexico impacted the oil industry greatly. It made gas prices rise, and it mad a lot of damage to our earth. It took months to recover and fix the leaking well in the bottom of the Gulf. This impacted our economy tremendously and cranked the gas prices up. This relates to what’s going on now with the gas prices, the only difference is that gas is in low demand due to more efficient vehicles. Although Obama is trying to get the gas prices lowered, it is not in our favor to do so. With Iran planning to attack Israel, the gas prices will just keep rising. Americans want a change in gas prices, but the whole fait of the oil industry lies within the minds of the Iranians. In past times, Presidents have stopped trade with foreign countries, but that will not benefit us, more of the least, make things worse. If we drop our main oil providers it will just be harder to get gas, and be more costly in our wallets.
 * Evaluation:** With the Americans being angry at the gas prices, they have no choice but to pay it. Obama should make a stand and do something about it, even if he thinks its going to cause more problems. Our economy is already bad, and has some Americans struggling to keep food on the table. The last thing they want to worry about it having reliable transportation to and from where ever they go. If they can’t afford the high gas prices now with the economy, how do they expect them to handle it when it rises to over five dollars? Although it’s not in our hands to change the gas prices, Obama should get more involved and make a compromise with our providers. He could even stop the trade with one provider, and become united with a more reliable one. Also, maybe the Americans can see this as a good thing. They can save their money by riding a bike to where they wanna go and only use their car sometimes. They could also car pool, and keep their jobs at home. So Americans can look at it either way, but their mostly gonna look at it as bad. If Obama can some how make a change with this whole situation it would leave a lot of Americans tention and stress free.
 * Questions:**
 * Work Cited:**

Hargreaves, Steve. "Fear of Iran is inflating gas prices - Feb. 23, 2012."//CNNMoney - Business, financial and personal finance news//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. .