Pricing Signals

Ken Salazar certainly knows how to lengthen a recession:

Scolding the Bush administration for rushing in its final days to drill near treasured Utah national parks, President Barack Obama’s new Interior secretary Wednesday shelved oil and gas leases sold during a chaotic December auction.

Ken Salazar’s action — which drew cheers from conservationists and sneers from industry representatives — triggered questions about the validity of costly land-use plans governing development and recreation on federal lands in the Beehive State, the fate of a University of Utah student who sabotaged the disputed lease auction and the future of drilling in the West.

Falling commodity prices — especially for oil — are a great way to get people spending money again, or giving them enough extra income to pay down some debts. Instead, we seem determined to send the message that we just love expensive energy. I’d expect the oil markets to respond accordingly.