Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Bob eCache says that the President shouldn't release the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to the Katrina-induced spike in oil prices, but the Energy Secretary just appeared on MSNBC and announced that the reserve would be tapped. I agree with Bob, this is not the best idea in the world. I like a cheap tank of gas as much as the next guy, but I don't think it's worth the strategic cost. A lot of the past year's run up in oil prices can be accounted for by the supply being diverted to fill the reserve after Clinton's fiddling around in 1996.