Hurricane Katrina, through its battering of oil platforms and refineries and shuttering of production, lifted a veil, shedding a stark light on the vulnerability of our gasoline industry as we watched gas prices soar. While I write this report, Hurricane Rita is bearing down on the Gulf Coast, threatening more damage to the country's strained oil operations

In past years, such storms would not have rattled the industry to this degree. But in the past few years, as global oil demand has increased, the industry has become increasingly vulnerable. A powerful storm or terrorist attack threatens to turn the oil industry on its head and send gasoline prices to record highs.

And even in periods of relative calm, consumers are faced with high, volatile prices at the pump. West Virginians know this all too well.

This is why I have been urging, for 25 weeks now, that the administration put politics aside and work with Congress to develop a clear, comprehensive energy strategy. Among my proposals is the use of alternative fuels to gasoline, especially coal-based fuels including liquid or gaseous coal-based fuels. I have also proposed an investigation into the possibility of price fixing by the Big Oil companies.

Unfortunately, the only action the administration has taken since Katrina amounts to nothing more than a fancy pacifier wrapped in a bundle of red tape.

While some of you might have breathed a sigh of relief at the Department of Energy's creation of a toll-free hotline to take complaints from victims of gas pump price-gouging, don't be fooled. No federal law against charging exorbitant fuel prices even exists.

The Energy Department's Web site assures motorists their complaints will be forwarded to the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department and state attorneys general. But it fails to mention that federal regulators have no authority to take action against price gougers.

You can call 1-800-244-3301, but a better number for this hotline would be 1-800-BIG-WASTE-OF-TIME. The administration is trying to placate us and they should be ashamed.

This week I joined my colleagues in support a proposed bill giving the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice authority to prosecute oil companies engaged in price gouging involving gasoline, home heating oil, or natural gas. The bill will also empower the federal government to impose tough civil and criminal penalties on companies that have cheated consumers.

While it is our hope that this legislation will provide consumers with some relief, we're just nibbling at the edges. We still need a plan that takes a bite out of the core of this crisis, now in its 25th week.

I will continue to push for a long-term solution to high prices at the pump. And it's my hope that the administration will learn from Katrina, and finally heed the chorus of cries from its citizens to reel in high gas prices.