A Key Priority for Congress: Fighting Record High Gas Prices

Op-Ed

A Key Priority for Congress: Fighting Record High Gas Prices

In recent months, fuel prices have risen to record levels. While all Americans are spending more on gasoline than they had anticipated, farmers and rural motorists, who generally drive greater distances, have been particularly hit hard by soaring fuel bills. According to U.S. Department of Energy, the current price for gasoline in the Midwest is $3.99 per gallon, $1.00 higher than just one year ago.

Increasing fuel prices are driven by many factors, among them a weak U.S. dollar, insufficient crude oil production, lagging domestic refining capacity, political unrest in oil producing regions, and growing demand from China and India. While there is no short-term, easy "quick fix" for high fuel prices, there is also no doubt about the long term solution: Congress and the President must be proactive in encouraging both energy conservation and increased domestic fuel production.

To that end, Congress and the President have already begun working on legislation designed to address our energy needs. The 110th Congress overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation to temporarily suspend oil purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Continuing to fill the SPR would take 70,000 barrels of oil off the market each day, even though the reserve is 97 percent full. Additionally, Congress enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act that will promote the use of more affordable American biofuels and increase the fuel efficiency of vehicles - the first increase in mileage standards in more than three decades. Over the past few days, Congressional Leaders have also met to discuss legislation that would bring relief to consumers feeling the pinch from high gasoline bills.

A long term solution, however, requires further steps. I fully support legislative efforts to establish tax credits to promote alternative energy technologies. These tax credits would be designed to unleash the spirit of American innovation on the full spectrum of our energy needs. To pay for these tax credits, it would be wise to eliminate the current federal tax breaks we provide for big oil companies, who are enjoying record profits. The House has voted for legislation just like this, but it has been filibustered in the Senate and faces a veto threat by the President.

I have also supported legislation that allows for the environmentally responsible harvest of our own American oil reserves in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and to allow for offshore energy exploration. This exploration can be done responsibly, while also boosting our domestic production and producing well paying jobs.

Additionally, oil companies ought to utilize all the federal land leases already granted to them. Combined, oil and gas companies hold leases to nearly 68 million acres of federal land and waters on which they are not currently producing oil and gas. If they were to utilize these current land leases, it could produce an additional 4.8 million barrels of oil and 44.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day.

During times like these, our government must work to develop innovative energy legislation that addresses the high energy costs of the moment while simultaneously shifting us toward a more energy efficient and self-sufficient economy. Doing one but not the other is not enough. Our national security and the future of our economy depend on it.

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