Farm state Republicans are in a panic, and it’s hard to blame them. Less than two months before Election Day on Nov. 3, diesel prices are at all-time highs, harvest season is here, and no relief is in sight. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley wants an embargo. Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett dropped a bill banning exports last week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is “open to exploring” that concept. Even Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, whose state benefits from a major refining industry, has floated a 90-day pause.

It’s an understandable impulse. It is also a terrible idea.

Energy markets don’t function like your kitchen pantry — you can’t just keep the diesel locked up at home and expect the price to stay low while refineries keep running full tilt and delaying much-needed maintenance downtime. U.S. plants produce about 5.3 million barrels per day of distillate. Domestic demand is closer to 3.6 million. The difference goes overseas because that’s how the system was built over half a century and more. Gulf Coast refiners aren’t perched atop a magic warehouse that can absorb that surplus for any length of time. Pipelines are........

© The Daily Caller