Oil

From Politico:

Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune used an op-ed in POLITICO on Monday to criticize Obama’s policies as impeding domestic energy production on federal lands and waters.

"Impeding"...? From USA Today:

The U.S. exported more oil-based fuels than it imported in the first nine months of this year, making it likely that 2011 will be the first time since 1949 that the nation is a net exporter of such goods, primarily diesel.

That's not all. The U.S. has reversed another decades-long trend. It began producing more crude oil in 2008 than the year before and accelerated that upswing 3% in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period in 2010. That production has helped reduce U.S. imports of crude oil by about 10% since 2006.

I don't think this line of Republican attack is going to work.

And yet...if domestic production is up, why are gas prices so high?