So much of what happens in our private lives, in civil society, in commerce and in government-even when we're reading the putting green-hinges on a judgment call. Do it now, do it later or don't do it? Is the line a half or a whole ball left of the hole?

Today we are examining the judgment-or lack thereof-shown in the halls and committee rooms of Congress. Tomorrow, we'll look at the judgment we've made in the voting booths and new-car showrooms all across America.

If we were smart, we would decide that we should ride in carpools more and run air conditioning less, but here in Houston, that's a non-starter.

One of the most disturbing things I heard recently was that in 2006, in a Republican Congress, a bill to make gasoline price gouging a federal crime would have passed except for a mere three votes. Imagine the chances of such a bill passing now that the Democrats are in charge and pump prices are inching beyond $3 per gallon again.

An anti-gouging bill has already passed the House and another version of it is in the Senate, but President Bush has said he'll veto any such measure. This conjures a picture of some executive found guilty of price gouging facing jail time.

But first we have to ask, what gasoline price constitutes gouging, and how do we prove intent? By claiming a company is gouging the American consumer, aka voter in November 2008, politicians are taking a leap beyond the free markets that in fact control how gasoline prices move. Demand is up. Refineries are down for routine maintenance or emergency repairs. Crude oil moves up on civilian unrest in Nigeria's delta or saber-rattling rhetoric from Tehran.

Similarly, some Senators want the right for the U.S. to sue OPEC and other cartels. This would seem to be a questionable judgment call, like biting the hand that feeds us, especially considering that we keep needing more crude oil.

I chatted recently with Harold Hamm, chairman and chief executive of Continental Resources in Enid, Oklahoma, about this anti-OPEC sentiment. Recall that back in the mid-1990s, he headed a group called Save Domestic Oil, which was trying to get the federal government to declare that foreign oil suppliers were undercutting U.S. producers by dumping their low-priced oil here. Today, Hamm says he opposes any move against OPEC, believing it to be futile.

Despite higher oil prices that translate into high gasoline prices around the world, global oil demand is still rising. At press time, the International Energy Agency hiked its 2007 global daily demand projection by 420,000 barrels, to 86.1 million-a year-over-year increase of 2%. OPEC itself forecasts 2007 oil demand will rise1.5%.

The IEA said in mid-June that the projected demand for OPEC oil is now 32 million barrels per day. Both organizations foresee a slide in non-OPEC production this year due to problems in the U.S., Sudan and Russia. OPEC members Iraq and Indonesia already cannot produce as much as they once did.

All the 2008 Democratic presidential candidates have called for some kind of emissions cap-and-trade system to incentivize companies to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Congress is pushing this. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, many corporate executives, including those of Big Oil and Big Auto, are now calling for a cap-and-trade system themselves. That's good judgment.

If federal environmental policy does place a cap on CO2 emissions next year, what can the oil and gas producer expect? That question was answered during a discussion at the IPAA midyear meeting last month.

"It would mean there should be incremental demand for natural gas," said Tom Petrie, vice chairman of Merrill Lynch Petrie Divestiture Advisors. John Richels, president of Devon Energy Corp., agreed: "I think it's bullish for natural gas producers."

Aubrey McClendon, chairman and chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Corp., said, "It makes electricity more expensive and that affects gas demand. We have already lost a third of our industrial demand for gas as companies move overseas. We have to fear about our market share [being overtaken by less-expensive coal].

"There are a number of things out there that can send us to a gas price that is unacceptable to everyone in this room. But natural gas really helps us overcome the fact that we may be coming to the time of a peak in oil production."

Petrie said he thinks a gas cartel like OPEC is coming. "Fourteen countries in the world have LNG capability now and they have big gas reserves, and 10 of them are already members of OPEC, so the mindset is there. But I don't think we should spend much time worrying about it because there is nothing the industry or government can do about it."

McClendon said the industry must defend how natural gas is perceived, rather than letting policy-makers claim it is expensive or unreliable. "We have a lot of Btus we can contribute," he said.