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Relief on the Road, Now and in the Future
By Rick Santorum (R-PA)
May 8, 2006
Over the past few weeks, we have seen gas prices rise at alarming levels. As someone who spends quite a bit of time driving across Pennsylvania, I am fully aware of the costs facing Americans at the gas pump--and how those prices have risen rapidly in recent weeks. I also understand that gasoline is not a luxury item. Americans need gas to get to work, to get our children to school, and frankly, to take care of the day-to-day business of our lives. So when gas prices rise as they have, it has a tremendous effect on all of us. Congress must take steps to address this problem that not only hits all of us financially, but also has the potential to damage the growth of our nation’s economy--an economy that has been booming and that we cannot afford to hold back.
But while it may seem as if these price increases are happening all of a sudden, we have not gotten to where we are today because of the actions of the last few months, or even years. The benefits of energy policies take time to come to fruition. Conversely, the consequences of energy policies that we need but fail to pass into law come back to haunt us down the road. And ever since President Clinton vetoed a bill that would increase our exploration of oil over a decade ago, our friends on the other side of the aisle have steadfastly refused to allow us to take the necessary steps to increase energy supply in this country.
Speaking as an economist (which, of course, I am not) might, the reason gas prices have risen so dramatically is pretty straightforward; energy demand is far outpacing energy supply, largely due to geopolitical problems in Iran and Nigeria and increased demand in India and China. Our population is growing and our economy is growing--it is logical that our energy use would grow with them. But as all this has taken place, we have been unable, and the other side unwilling, to expand our domestic supply in response.
We have been unable to explore for oil in the Gulf of Mexico, where just 50 miles off the coast of Florida the Cuban Government is reaping the benefits of underwater drilling. We have been prevented from establishing a pipeline to move natural gas--gas we are already pulling from the ground, and, as we don’t have the ability to move it, pumping back in--from Alaska to the Continental United States. We have repeatedly not even been granted the courtesy of an up-or-down vote on proposals to open just 2,000 acres of the 19 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to environmentally sensitive oil exploration. If this exploration had not been vetoed a decade ago, we would now be producing at least an extra 1 million barrels of oil per day.
So now we are here today, with gas prices rising and consumers feeling the ill effects and asking what Congress can do to alleviate this burden. The honest truth is that there is no easy, immediate fix. But there are some steps we can take to provide relief in the short-term and try and prevent such a crisis from erupting again.
In the short-term, we have urged the President to suspend deposits into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for six months to make more oil available to consumers. We are pushing to repeal tax incentives for oil companies to drill, understanding that with prices and company profits where they are, such incentives are surely not needed. And we are granting the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department the authority to bring enforcement actions against anyone unlawfully inflating the price of gas. This practice, known as price gouging, has no place in our society at any time--especially now, with prices as they are.
In the long-term, we can increase supply by implementing some of the exploration options I mentioned above and by expanding our refinery capacity. And, most importantly, we can decrease the demand we have for oil. That means authorizing an Advanced Energy Initiative to further research and develop fuel-efficient vehicles and alternative sources of fuel like biodiesel and coal-to-liquid fuels. It also means giving the Secretary of Transportation the authority to govern fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles. These steps will help wean America off our dangerous and costly dependence on foreign oil.
While there is no “silver bullet” to solve the short-term problem of rising gas prices, this proposal will provide some relief to consumers in the near future while also initiating the long-term solutions that will have the greatest impact on our energy independence. We need to implement these provisions, and we need to implement them now. Our dependence on oil--oil that mostly comes from foreign sources--is not merely an economic issue (although the negative economic effects are substantial), but one that threatens our national security as well. The future of this nation will hinge on our ability to be energy independent--these provisions, attacking our dependence on a variety of fronts, will help to ensure that energy independence is not just a catchphrase, but a reality.
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