Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Kentucky Congressman Encourages Congress To Take Action To Combat Higher Gas Prices.
U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers (KY-05) joined Republican colleagues in the House to back immediate and sweeping legislative measures to reduce the cost of gasoline, which has now broken over $4.00 per gallon. The measures include opening new refineries, encouraging coal-to-liquids use, removing fuel blend requirements and exploring oil in Alaska and on the outer continental shelf.
“Congress needs to be in crisis mode,” said Rogers. “Instead, the Democratic leadership has wasted every moment since Memorial Day fiddling around with meaningless resolutions and considering climate change legislation among other issues that don’t have a thing to do with addressing ever-higher energy costs.”
House Republicans are using a procedural technique known as a discharge petition to force action on the Congressional legislative calendar. Under this plan, a simple majority of House members can vote to bring energy legislation to the floor. Once 218 members have signed on, House rules require the Democrats to bring legislation to the floor on an up-or-down vote on seven separate legislative measures to address the nation’s energy woes.
Each of the seven bills reduces the price of gas and other energy sources by increasing American-made energy and decreasing dependence on foreign oil. If this procedural technique should prove successful, the Congressional agenda would be focused between now and the end of July on energy.
Short-term solutions to energy costs are addressed by speeding up the approval process of building new refineries, the lack of which are causing a supply bottleneck. Then attention would turn to exploring energy in an environmentally-sound manner in Alaska’s ANWR refuge and the outer continental shelf. According to energy industry experts, ANWR alone holds nearly half of the reserves of the entire nation.
Long-term solutions include developing coal-to-liquid technology and other alternatives to gasoline such as wind and nuclear power.
“Congress needs to be in crisis mode,” said Rogers. “Instead, the Democratic leadership has wasted every moment since Memorial Day fiddling around with meaningless resolutions and considering climate change legislation among other issues that don’t have a thing to do with addressing ever-higher energy costs.”
House Republicans are using a procedural technique known as a discharge petition to force action on the Congressional legislative calendar. Under this plan, a simple majority of House members can vote to bring energy legislation to the floor. Once 218 members have signed on, House rules require the Democrats to bring legislation to the floor on an up-or-down vote on seven separate legislative measures to address the nation’s energy woes.
Each of the seven bills reduces the price of gas and other energy sources by increasing American-made energy and decreasing dependence on foreign oil. If this procedural technique should prove successful, the Congressional agenda would be focused between now and the end of July on energy.
Short-term solutions to energy costs are addressed by speeding up the approval process of building new refineries, the lack of which are causing a supply bottleneck. Then attention would turn to exploring energy in an environmentally-sound manner in Alaska’s ANWR refuge and the outer continental shelf. According to energy industry experts, ANWR alone holds nearly half of the reserves of the entire nation.
Long-term solutions include developing coal-to-liquid technology and other alternatives to gasoline such as wind and nuclear power.
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 3:01 PM 
