I know a lot of you are economic geniuses, but if you can't see that $1.50/gal gasoline/diesel has a positive effect on the poor, you're blind. Think about a family of 4 struggling to live on $40k/year now having an additional $30/week to buy grocerices/clothes/entertainment, that's huge to that family and there are a lot of these families in Oklahoma.
High energy prices do contribute to inflation, as someone who spends a lot of time dealing with and negotiating freight rates I can tell you that the high cost of diesel has almsot tripled freight rates since 2002.....manufacturers are absorbing that additional freight expense, they are incorporating it in the the cost of goods.
Being in the industry that I'm in, I get a kick out of the oil producers crying about the cost of oil, in late 90's early 00's Oklahoma's oil was $15-$20/bb and when prices broke $25/bb these guys started tripping over their own dicks to get oil out of the ground, and then when it hit $35/bb old timers (70-80 y/o) came out of retirment and suited up to get old wells pumping again. If $35/bb was that great 10-15 years ago, $50-$60/bb should be fantastic for them now. The only trick is trying to get the market to cooperate.....oh wait.....the producers would fawk that up, by slowing production to drive the price up.....
We are using methods that cost a lot more than the methods of late 90s early 2000s.
As far as the benefit of low energy costs to the poor. You are missing the point. Sure it is helpful for them... for a brief moment, But in the over all picture it changes nothing for them. And it is likely that that $40k/year job might just go away entirely if things are too dire... specially here in Oklahoma.