Florida gas prices surged to the highest levels this summer over the past two weeks, adding 30 cents per gallon to an average of $3.67 before declining slightly. Oil prices today topped $81 a barrel, approaching their highest level since April as economic data has been stronger than expected.
The highest statewide average for gas this year was set in April, when prices reached $3.72 per gallon. But Palm Coast appears to be on the more painful end of that average, as gas prices range between $3.66 and $3.94 in the region.
Along State Road 100, prices fluctuated between $3.89 at Wawa and RaceTrac to $3.79 at the Mobil station to $3.74 at Flagler Plaza, and $3.67 in Bunnell. The same range applied along Palm Coast Parkway. There was cheaper gas along LPGA Boulevard in Daytona Beach, just off the interstate, with $3.34 a gallon gas at both Buc-ee’s and Sam’s Club. Costco at World Golf Village in St. Johns County was selling at $3.49 a gallon.
“Oil prices are the primary culprit behind the recent jump at the pump,” said AAA Spokesman Mark Jenkins. “The U.S. price of oil rose 15 percent through the past five weeks, which raised the cost of producing gasoline.”
Earlier this month, when gas prices were lower, the U.S. price of oil traded at around $70 per barrel. On Friday, the price of oil settled at $80.58 per barrel. Exxon Mobil’s stock was trading at $106 per share today, up over threefold in the past two years. Chevron stock was trading at $162 a share, up from $71 two years ago.
According to the Oil Price Information Service, prices are surging behind strong economic data, which raises expectations for fuel demand. Record-breaking heat has led to some refinery outages along the Gulf Coast, leading to reductions in fuel output. The latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows refinery operations in the Gulf Coast last week at 93.3 percent capacity, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous week and significantly lower than the 97 percent rate refineries were operating at last year.
JimboXYZ says
It just keeps getting better doesn’t it ?
Laurel says
Gas is cheaper in Jacksonville.
Well, we could have an authoritarian crook, who dances with the Arab prince, who murders American reporters. That would be better, right?
Dennis C Rathsam says
Between the cost of gas, food, interest rates at the highest in 40 years. the economy in the toilet, along with his apruval ratings, never mind the on going bribery charges, all the moneies from Ukrain, Russia\, Romainia & China that have gone into the Biden Crime Machine with payments to them all! even the grand kids????? What service did they provide? Can U say cover ups & lies? This is why gas is so high!!!!! Thank Balloon Joe, Chinas #1BOY!
Laurel says
So, if the economy is “in the toilet” why is Home Depot and Lowe’s packed? You really should learn how the economy works. The interest rates are increased to slow inflation.
You cannot talk about Biden’s son, who was never in public office, without talking about Trump’s two children and one son-in-law who were appointed by Trump (nepotism much?) to be Presidential Advisors (as if they were qualified!). Kushner had a (personal) two billion dollar investment deal with the Saudis (that could help Trump with the price of oil, right?). The Chinese government granted a total of 41 trademarks to companies linked to Ivanka Trump. Both were working in the White House at the time of their deals. You never mention that. Oh, China’s #1 girl! Saudi Arabia’s #1 boy.
Gee thanks, anti-Nato boy Trump! Ukraine, and other democratic countries need not stick together when authoritarianism strikes.
The Geode says
ROFL! You are measuring the state of the economy by the number of people that go to Lowes and Home Depot? How many people are at the gas pump? How many are compromising at the grocery stores? It’s good of you to think that “homeowners” with excess are the measuring stick when they represent such a tiny part of living because the vast majority are renters and leasers. Pasty White Liberals are way too out of touch with the real world to be making comments about it. I mean, you people are clueless as to how the working class has to move about to survive in this world, and you are TOTALLY off base when it comes to minorities and the things we have to face – yet, you’re always blah-blah-blahing…
Laurel says
Geode: You do enjoy your “Pasty White Liberals” comments, don’t you? Does it somehow make you feel better? Gives you that edge, right?
If you watched the market more often, you might be surprised just exactly how the market is doing. Have you noticed all the construction around you? No? Too busy disparaging “you people”? Have you noticed that a lot of the construction is of apartment buildings, you know, for renters? You may think you know all about those you love to classify, and how they are not in the “real world,” as of course only you and “minorities are,” but it shows you do enjoy classifying yourself.
Yes, I am aware, contrary to what you want to believe, that there is a large percentage of Americans who don’t have an emergency sum of $400 in their bank accounts, but that does not mean the economy is completely to blame. Some of the blame may be personal. But if you prefer to be a victim of “Pasty White Liberals,” enjoy.
Now, if you don’t like my comments, skip over.
Chris says
Every year when the kids go back to school,gas goes up.
don’t you see this every year?
It’s a racket. November December it goes down.
Ray W. says
No mention of the fact that Saudi Arabia, in June, announced that it would be phasing in a unilateral one million barrel per day reduction in crude oil production throughout the month of July. Saudi crude oil production will drop to around nine million barrels per day. The other 12 member nations of OPEC are not a part of this action. Saudi Arabia has the capacity to produce much more crude oil; it simply has chosen not to do so.
Ban the GOP says
All the republicans I know think Joe Biden sets global prices.
Ed says
I doubt you know too many republicans based on your worldly views.
However, the United States was oil independent during the tail end of the last administration and on the way to oil dominance on the world stage. We do sit on 300 years of world wide oil reserves.
Also, as electric rates continue to surge country wide, electric vehicles aren’t the answer.
Bidenomics need to remove regulations and send the major oil producers signals that they have a future here. Don’t you remember when the libs asked banks to stop doing business with the likes of Chevron and Mobil? Geniuses. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said slamming the brakes on new oil and gas production “would be the road to hell for American” 9/22/2022. Is it hot enough for you yet?
Bob J says
Show me where your info came from for us to be oil independent! did you know we export most of all our oil. The companies do it because of the tons of money they make. Most of the crude is the US is so costly to refine it pays more to export it. “JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said slamming the brakes on new oil and gas production “would be the road to hell for American” 9/22/2022. ” because all the investors would be broke if they stopped production for export.
Ed says
Bob j,
Reuters March 3, 2022…their own fact check…and they lean a bit left too
Ray W. says
Ed, let’s do this right, so that you don’t make the same mistakes again.
During the past administration, America became a net energy exporter, which is far different from being oil independent.
America exports electricity to Mexico and Canada where it is economically feasible to do so; it imports electricity from Mexico and Canada where it is economically feasible to do so. America exports compressed natural gas to Mexico and Canada where it is economically feasible to do so; it imports compressed natural gas, too, where economically feasible. Beginning in 2016, America began exporting liquified natural gas from the lower 48 states (one export liquefaction facility had been open in Kenai, Alaska, but with declining natural gas supplies from Alaskan fields, that facility was shut down a while ago). America can export crude oil today, now that Congress repealed the statute that forbad export of American crude oil, which was originally passed in the 1970’s.
It has been many decades since America was oil independent. As predicted by Marion King Hubbert in 1956, America reached what was believed to be peak crude oil production in November 1970, with an average daily crude oil production that month at just over 10 million barrels of oil per day, according to the EIA. At that time, America was consuming roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil derivatives per day, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, greases, kerosene, jet fuel, plastics and a myriad of other products.
In 1980, the month with the peak average daily production of crude oil was February, with just over 8.7 million barrels of oil per day. Despite increasing energy efficiencies, we were still consuming roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil derivatives per day.
In October 1990, crude oil production was just over 7.5 million barrels of oil per day. We continued to consume about 20 million barrels of crude oil derivatives per day.
In March 2000, crude oil production was just over 5.9 million barrels of oil per day, yet consumption of crude oil derivatives remained relatively constant.
In September 2008, we bottomed out at well over 3.9 million barrels of oil per day, yet we continued to consume roughly 20 million barrels worth of crude oil derivatives per day. We continued to see efficiency gains, but with roughly 30 million new Americans after each census count is released, we simply have more cars, more homes, more TV’s, more other electronic gadgets, etc.
With the fracking revolution, crude oil production soon began rising. In November 2011, American crude oil production broke 6 million barrels per day. Production passed 7 million barrels per day in November 2012. 8 million in January 2014. 9 million in September 2014. 9.658 million barrels per day in April 2015, which was the peak during the Obama administration. I paid $1.49 per gallon for gas on only one occasion during that time, but gas really was that cheap here for a short period of time.
In the Trump years, oil production passed 10 million barrels per day in November 2017. 11 million barrels per day in August 2018. 12 million barrels per day in April 2019, with a Trump administration peak of 13.0 in November 2019. When the pandemic hit, crude oil production plummeted to 9.101 million barrels per day in April 2020. Crude oil prices fell fast, and we were able to buy gas for under $2 per gallon. Demand simply plummeted, oil and gasoline storage tanks filled up and prices dropped. Eventually, demand returned, and prices rose, but the cause was the pandemic, not administration energy policies.
During the Biden administration, oil production hit 12.770 million barrels per day this past March, with additional production coming online in the coming months. According to EIA predictions, 2023 will see the highest average crude oil production for the year in American history. Since we still consume roughly 20 million barrels worth of crude oil derivatives per day, we are not oil independent and haven’t been for a long time. Please disabuse yourself of that falsehood.
As an aside, since the world produces just over 100 million barrels of crude oil per day, we are so far distant from dominating the oil market on the world stage, your comment on that point is laughable. The 13 OPEC nations are capable of producing roughly 50 million barrels of crude oil per day. Those 13 nations meet periodically in Vienna. They invite another 10 nations to their meetings, but those 10 other countries do not have voting rights. The 23 nations that comprise OPEC+ produce well over 60 million barrels of crude oil per day. OPEC+ controls the world’s crude oil marketplace. In February 2021, OPEC voted to cut crude oil production by 6 million barrels of crude oil per day. Saudi Arabia announced another unilateral 1 million barrel per day cut. In January 2021, Saudi Arabia averaged 9.294 million barrels of production per day. At the going rate for that time of $35 per barrel, simple math tells you that the Saudi government was earning $325 million per day, if it sold all the oil it produced. With the 7 million barrels taken from the world’s supplies, prices eventually rose to $85 per barrel. With Saudi Arabia producing just over 8 million barrels per day at that time, simple math tells you that the country was earning $680 million per day. In July 2021, OPEC announced that it would resume normal production over a 15-month period of time, increasing production by 400,000 barrels per day on a monthly basis. But, once oil prices dropped too low, OPEC abandoned their announced monthly increases. Since February 2021, OPEC has manipulated the marketplace. Every time oil prices drop below $80 per barrel, OPEC cuts production. Even though American energy companies are drilling for more oil, no matter how much they produce, OPEC can simply cut production again and prices go back up. For example, as cited in another comment in this thread, Saudi Arabia announced in June that it would phase in a unilateral 1 million barrel per day cut in production in July. Crude oil prices are on the rise again and gasoline costs more. This is not an administration-created problem; it is a cartel controlling the marketplace. Numerous industry publications report that all of Saudi Arabia’s annual budgetary needs are met when crude oil prices remain above $80 per barrel.
As for natural gas production, 2023 is also predicted to be a record year for American energy companies. The problem, as we all know, is that Europe, for the most part, has weaned itself from Russian natural gas pipelines after imposing sanctions for the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. That doesn’t mean that European countries stopped using natural gas. Rather, they began importing much of their liquified natural gas from America. Germany fast-tracked the construction of an LNG processing facility in a major port, so that supertankers could off-load their cargo in Germany, a first for that country. Portugal also built an LNG facility in a seaport and built a pipeline into France to link into the French compressed natural gas pipeline network.
According to the EIA, the first LNG exports began in February 2016, from Sabine Pass, Louisiana. As an aside, Cheniere Energy was a mid-level player in the American crude oil marketplace in the mid-2000’s. Its CEO had the vision of transforming the company into a liquified natural gas exporter. Cheniere Energy bet $30 billion on the vision and was the first to get through permitting, financing, construction, and certification. Now, Cheniere Energy has eight operating liquefaction trains in Louisiana and another set in Corpus Christi, Texas, with more under construction; it is the major player in LNG exports.
Rising from zero exports in January 2016, the LNG export number has reached 11.1 billion cubic feet per day on average for the first six months of 2022. At that time, a total of seven LNG processing facilities had been opened. Three more are under construction. The EIA predicts that America will be exporting roughly 20 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in January 2026. Prior to 2016, America couldn’t export natural gas to other countries. Now, it can. We had a glut of natural gas prior to 2016. Now, we don’t. Prices were low and our electricity rates reflected that condition. Now that most of Europe is buying natural gas from American energy companies, prices have risen. Supply and demand is what it is.
The gullible think that the current administration is hindering oil and natural gas production. That, of course, is not true, any more than the Obama administration supposedly hindered energy production. But the gullible will always be among us. The current administration already relaxed certain regulations on energy production in the early phases of the Russian war on the Ukraine in order to promote crude oil exploration.
Remember that Jamie Dimon was not under oath when he was interviewed. Hyperbole is not an alien language to CEO’s. Please stop falling for hyperbole.
Please make every effort to leave the ranks of the gullible among us. You come across as the “pestilential” partisan member of faction that James Madison warned New Yorkers about in Federalist Paper #37. Being less right than you can be is not a virtue. Remember, I do not advocate for any political party. I oppose the “pestilential” partisan members of faction among us and decry any local political leader who advocates on the radio for the beheading of Democrats.
Ray W. says
As an addendum, a friend told me today of reduced refinery operations due to excessive heat.
I found a Washington Post article that details the fact that heat in excess of 95 degrees causes refinery output to drop, due to safety concerns and reduced refinery efficiencies. The recent long-lasting heat dome over Texas (and Florida) caused a significant drop in refinery output. According to the article, the heat dome, coupled with declines in global crude oil storage levels due to recent crude oil production cuts, have driven gasoline prices higher.
USA Today reports that petroleum engineers say that refineries cannot run at maximum efficiency when temperatures reach 100 degrees.
Apparently, refineries are designed to operate most efficiently at temperatures ranging from 32 degrees to 95 degrees.
We need more science. We need for people to follow reason to wherever it leads us, instead of contorting reason to fit a preconceived conclusion. We don’t need gullible commenters like Ed.
On a related note, does Ed remember when certain FlaglerLive commenters were blaming the current presidential administration for the rise in gasoline prices in January 2021? In reality, the cold snap that disrupted the unregulated Texas electrical grid shut down every Texas oil refinery. It took at least a week until the refineries were back to operating at full capacity. The gullible among us blamed the President. Can it be argued that OPEC, meeting a few weeks after the price jump, took advantage of the political firestorm and cut production, knowing fully well that people like Ed would continue to blame the President for the long-term rise in gas prices. Why not cut production when you know that people will blame someone else for the result? Make more money for yourself and watch as others blame someone else. Win-win!
Ed says
@ray
It won’t take me but a few lines to correct your windy rebuttal.
If you take energy independent to mean the US can’t import oil, we never will be, because we import a lot of oil, refine it and then export gasoline and diesel. We also export oil that is a better fit for foreign refineries than their own I agree.
But, when we exported more then we imported(for domestic use) that is my definition of independence.
And we have done that many times. I never spoke of production either.
Ray W. says
Just when were you going to tell FlaglerLive readers that you had made up a definition of oil independence just to fit your claim? When America exports more oil than it imports for domestic use, is it more accurate to describe the situation as one of net oil exporting, not the misleading phrase of oil independence? And just when, under your made-up definition, were you going to tell FlaglerLive readers that America is oil independent under the current administration, too. Finally, you claim to not be talking about production. How do we export any oil if we don’t produce it? Of course you are talking about production.
Do you even understand why James Madison described the partisan member of faction as pestilential? You just type things, anything, so long as it fits your narrative. We are not sitting on a 300-year worldwide supply of crude oil. We are not oil independent. Electricity prices are rising because worldwide demand is rising, now that Russia has been cut out of one huge part of the market. The Biden administration relaxed regulations to promote crude oil exploration shortly after Russia invaded the Ukraine.
The Hegelian side of me so wishes that the Republican Party would return to true conservatism, but that ship likely sailed a long time ago. This business of just saying things, regardless of what is real, and then making up a new definition when you get called out on it, does not help the Republican Party. It is difficult for you to earn credibility when you are so consistently wrong. We need two credible parties to make the system of checks and balances work. You can start by exercising intellectual rigor as you type.
Laurel says
Ray W.: Absolutely we can argue that the Saudis can manipulate the oil to convince Americans that one candidate is more beneficial to us than the other. Biden did not do the sword dance with the favored Trump, who did.
Americans are lazy when it comes to learning. They will be right back here commenting in the next article that Biden-Harris is…
Ray W. says
Thank you, Laurel. I agree that meaningful argument is the best method to get at the truth, and the Biden administration did not dance often enough with the Saudis, not that it didn’t try once, only to be rebuffed.
It should not be overlooked that the Biden administration cut off certain arms sales to Saudi Arabia because the arms were being used in the Yemeni conflict against U.S. regulations. If the U.S. were the only nation affected by the production cuts, a reasonable argument could be made that Saudi Arabia was cutting production to hurt the Biden administration. But, since nearly 8 billion other people are affected by rising prices, and since all 13 OPEC countries voted to reduce production, the better argument, at least to me, is that OPEC wants to manipulate world crude prices to improve each member’s financial position. Balancing a budget with higher oil prices makes for a happy domestic population. All 13 OPEC nations are in a better financial position now that prices are over $80 per barrel.
Ray W. says
Your comment that we sit on 300 years of worldwide oil reserves has been simmering for a while, as your claim struck me as somewhat fantastic. I accept that there are different definitions for the amount of crude oil within the territorial boundaries of the United States.
Obviously, there are estimated oil reserves. Since this is based on speculation, I will simply say that theoretically, the U.S. has huge oil reserves, only we haven’t located them all yet, much less determined whether it would be economically feasible the oil. For example, having off-shore oil fields in the Arctic is far different from having off-shore oil fields in the Gulf. If it costs $200 per barrel to drill and then extract the oil from an Arctic field because you have to build reinforced pipeline supports in areas that are experiencing thawing permafrost, that can be extraordinarily expensive. And even if you build a pipeline to link into the already existing Alaskan pipeline network, you still have to pump it all the way across Alaska and then load it onto a supertanker, which will then carry it to the closest refinery. No small feat. No company would ever choose to drill in the Arctic when it already has wells in the Permian shale basin that can be redrilled using horizontal drilling technology and then fracked and fracked again with relatively new fracking compounds. Since pipelines linking wells in the Permian shale basin to refineries in the Houston area, new pipelines don’t need to be built. And the distance between the Permian shale basin and refineries in Houston is far less than the distance from the north shore of the Arctic. Since estimates hover around $25 per barrel to redrill old wells in the Permian shale basin, the choice for any American energy company is easy: Just don’t drill in the Arctic until it is economically feasible to do so.
Then, there are “proved” oil reserves. According to the EIA, we had 44.4 billion barrels of “proved” oil reserves at the end of 2021, up 16% over the previous year. At the end of 2021, again according to the EIA, we consumed 19.78 million barrels of crude oil per day. Simple math tells me that dividing proved reserves by daily consumption yields 2245 days available oil.
Finally, there are “technically recoverable” oil reserves, which is the amount of known crude oil reserves if we were able to extract 100% of the known oil supply, which right now is not even remotely possible. One of the reasons that the Permian shale basin is supplying more crude oil than ever on a daily basis is because of improvements in fracking compounds and drilling efficiencies, but no one is getting 100% of the oil from each well. “Technically recoverable” reserves, according to the EIA, total 373.1 billion barrels of oil, or roughly 50 years’ worth of oil.
I agree that with technological advancements, additional oil deposits will be found. And, with refinements in drilling techniques and fracking compounds, oil can be extracted at an economically feasible cost in certain areas of the U.S.
I then Googled “fact check” for 300-year supply of U.S. crude oil. A copy and paste chain mail circulated on Twitter and Facebook in 2022, claiming that the U.S. had a 400-year supply of oil. The claim was rated false.
The more I study Ed’s various comments, the more I come to realize that Ed just might be extremely gullible. The analogy that comes to mind is the old lawyer’s adage about the four stages of a lawyer’s development. When a lawyer passes the Bar Examination and begins to practice law, he or she can be characterized as unconsciously ineffective, in that the lawyer does not yet realize just how little he or she knows. In time, the lawyer begins to understand just how little he or she knows, at which point he or she becomes consciously ineffective. With enough experience, a lawyer transitions to the point of becoming consciously effective, in that he or she has to think about it, but now he or she knows what to do. Finally, a lawyer becomes so experienced that he or she reaches the stage of unconsciously effective, in that he or she now automatically does the right thing. Ed presents as unconsciously ineffective. He just doesn’t know how little he knows, and he does not present as a person who is interested in finding out what he doesn’t know.
We need more science. We need more people who follow reason to its logical conclusion, and don’t distort reason to fit a preconceived outcome.
Ed says
Hey Ray,
I’ve been called a lot of things as I’m guessing you have have too…but gullible would be the furthest from the truth.
I stand corrected and now believe we have about 50 years supply unless another technological break through similar to fracking expands the possibilities.
Ray W. says
You don’t get to decide whether you are gullible or not. To paraphrase Wittgenstein, one of the most difficult things in life is to not fool ourselves.
I accept that I have been gullible many times in the past simply because when I learned that what I thought was wrong, I tried to correct my thinking, i.e., when I learned that I had been gullible, I tried to fix it. You just learned that you were gullible about many of your claims, yet you insist that you are not gullible. One of the first ways to be gullible is to insist that you are not gullible.
The three great questions in philosophy are: How shall I live my life? How shall I be governed? How do I know what I know?
None of these three questions are answerable, yet we are destined in life to forever try to answer them. The moment we think we have answered any one of them is the moment we have lost the race. I am often wrong, but always curious.
Ed says
So you get to decide if I am gullible? You sir are entitled to your opinion. And so am I.
Me thinkith you are a pompous ass.
You also need to get a hobby, way too much time spent trolling and pontificating.
Ray W. says
I didn’t say that I decide that you are gullible. I said that you don’t get to decide whether you are gullible. The facts decide whether you are gullible.
Let’s go over this once again. You claimed that the U.S. was sitting on a 300 year worldwide supply of oil. According to the EIA, we are sitting on a 50 year domestic supply of oil. Since we consume roughly 20% of the world’s overall consumption, that means that we are sitting on a 10 year worldwide supply of oil. You were off by 290 years. I pointed out that a simple fact check revealed that last year, a false claim went around the internet that we were sitting on a 400 year worldwide supply of oil. You just might have fallen for a modified version of that claim, though you never told anyone where you got your false information.
The facts show that you were gullible on that point. Just accept that you presented as a gullible commenter and move on. It is easy to stop being gullible. Simply make sure that what you present to FlaglerLive readers is factually accurate.
PB says
Biden may not have set the prices, but who affects them in this county? Highest around! Must be the politicians we should vote out!
feddy says
Remind me again how much oil from our reserves did the government release without replenishing or sell off to other nations?
Ray W. says
On August 2d, PBS reported that the administration had already purchased over 6 million barrels of oil at roughly $74 per barrel to begin replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, after 180 million barrels were withdrawn during the worldwide oil shortage created both by the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and the first large cut in production by OPEC. The story was that the administration had announced that it had paused additional purchases after crude oil prices rose above $80 per barrel. If and when prices drop, the replenishing will resume. And the administration announced that it was cancelling the once-statutorily-mandated sale of 140 million barrels of oil from the reserve after Congress passed a new law authorizing the administration to decide whether to cancel the sale.
Land of no turn signals says says
What no stupid cartoon with Ron DeSantis being the cause of high gas prices?You guys are slipping.Maybe because it’s sleepy Joe at the wheel.
Laurel says
“Sleepy Joe” is a talking point of no value.
Concerned Citizen says
I recently read an article on this site. It was about why space exploration shouldn’t be a priority.
Now I’m not an expert by any means on National Security matters. So this is just my opinion. We are wasting vast sums of money. And are reinventing the space program. The very same things they are attempting to do now were “supposedly” done in the late 50’s and 60’s with far less technology. For what gain? At some point NASA decided that lunar exploration was no longer viable. Or economical. Am I missing something that has determined the moon is a vast source of natural resources?
What we should be doing is utilizing the valuable technology we have. And even more valuable and irreplaceable resource of time to cut our dependency of fuel from other countries. Like most of us I still work work full time at 60. And was shocked the other day when it cost almost 20 more dollars to fill up.
The US is supposed to be one of the most powerful nations in the World. Yet over the years we have undermined our National Security by letting other countries control valuable commodities. We don’t need to rely on any governing body to control or dictate our fuel sources. Or prices.
Let’s do what is needed now to ensure economic freedom. The moon can wait.