The protestors want to see an end to drilling. This would mean that domestic supply of oil decreases. People that know a little economics will draw the immediate conclusion that when supply decreases and demand stays the same, price increases.
But price isn't the side of the graph that we want to be looking at. This argument focuses more on the mechanics of why price increases. You see price, as we use it, is a rationing method; communists and socialist use lines (first-come first-serve), capitalists use price and money. The increase in price is a reflection of a decrease in quantity available. This may seem repetitive and elementary, but it's important to be perfectly clear about this.
Now the hypocrisy. Consider the average drilling protestor. They have enough education to follow the news, understand what's going on, and care what they see. They have enough free time and money to take days off work, not for vacation, but for standing on the side of the road with a picket. They wake up in the morning and drive to work. They drive to Walmart to pick up groceries (unless they're one of those people who go out of their way and drive farther to go to an organic grocery store). And when they protest they drive to either the protesting headquarters or location in their own car.
In the days of factory worker strikes, workers banded together to limit the hardships they endured when leaving work and protesting. We've all seen black and white pictures of these lower to middle class workers picketing against the evil business they worked for. Those photos shape how we think of protestors, even if it does it subconsciously. The fact of the matter is that today's protestors are very different; in many ways, protesting today is a rich man's game.
Now consider what happens to the individual if the protestors get their way. The price of a gallon of gas increases, quantity decreases. Those in the upper socioeconomic brackets (some protestors might be in this group) sigh and pay the extra money for gas to continue their lifestyle (their time is worth more than $7 a gallon). Those in the middle bracket (this is where most of the protestors fit in) will curb most of their unnecessary driving, but will continue to drive to work (they have to make a living) and the other places they see as "necessities".
But wait, if the upper and middle classes aren't eliminating much of their gas usage, where does the decrease in quantity consumed come from? The only bracket we have left, the lowest class. Increases in gas prices seem a lot worse when you're choosing between food, heat, and gas. The brunt of the hardships of an end to drilling in the gulf are felt by the poorest people.
It is the utmost hypocrisy for a middle or upper class worker to claim that for environmental reasons we should cease oil production, but that the downsides should be felt not by them, by those below them.
As a side note to those who view oil companies as evil, and therefore view my arguments with skepticism. Consider this nugget of information provided in a presentation by Louisiana Economist Lauren Scott:
All US oil companies are corporations that sell stock. Therefore, the owners are the stockholders.
43% of oil company stock is owned by mutual funds and asset management companies that have mutual funds.
27% of oil company stock is owned by institutional investors like pension funds.
14% of oil company stock is held in IRA's and personal retirement accounts.
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