THE SILENT ISSUE – AT 9:36 P.M. ET:  We've been warning regularly at Urgent Agenda that the price of oil is the hidden, silent issue that may explode for the 2012 presidential campaign.  The situation is getting worse, and the administration responds only with more restrictions on offshore drilling.  From the Financial Times:

High oil prices threaten to derail the fragile economic recovery among developed nations this year, the leading energy watchdog has warned, putting pressure on the Opec oil cartel to increase production.

Over the past year the oil import costs for the 34 mostly rich countries that make up the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have soared by $200bn to $790bn at the end of 2010, according to an analysis by the International Energy Agency.

The increase, due to high crude prices, is equal to a loss of income of about 0.5 per cent of OECD gross domestic product, according to the IEA.

“Oil prices are entering a dangerous zone for the global economy,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist. “The oil import bills are becoming a threat to the economic recovery. This is a wake-up call to the oil consuming countries and to the oil producers.”

Oil prices have edged closer to $100 a barrel in recent weeks and Brent crude hit $95 a barrel for the first time in 27 months on Monday as the economic recovery has gathered pace.

COMMENT:  There are now responsible predictions that the price of gas at the pump will soon reach four dollars a gallon, and could even reach five dollars a gallon during the 2012 campaign.  The fact is that some of the people in Obama's political base have no problem with this.  They like high gas prices, as they believe it will drive Americans to other fuels.  That's nice.  While we're being driven to fuels that don't exist and cars that haven't been developed, what happens to us and our economy? 

Don't ask radical environmentalists.  They're busy on the slopes of Aspen.

January 4, 2011