We Need an Energy Plan

WE NEED AN ENERGY PLAN -- (House of Representatives - May 06, 2008)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Akin) for 1 minute.

Mr. AKIN. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the last little more than a year, gasoline prices have gone up $1.33 cents a gallon. That's a larger increase than what we've had over the previous 5 years before that. The Democrat leadership said that they had a plan at that time, this is a year ago, to keep the gas prices from going up. Yet the gas prices have gone up.

Now I don't think the American public wants us to bicker between parties. They want us to be solving problems. And I don't believe it's the Democrats' fault necessarily that the gas prices have gone up internationally. But what is a problem is that we're not dealing with the problem. What we should be talking about is how do we move off of our dependence on foreign oil to American energy? What we should be seeing would be movement in the direction, depending on which way people want to go, additional refinement capacity. There have been no new refineries built in over 30 years. Investment in new nuclear technology. Our nuclear technology is old, many, many years old. It's a good source of energy. The idea of getting liquid fuel from coal. We have tremendous coal resources. Shouldn't there be something being done in that area?

But nothing in any of these areas. A lack of a plan is unacceptable. It's not the Democrats' fault that gas prices go up, but it is a problem when we don't have a plan.

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