WASHINGTON, D.C.  -  As the summer driving season kicks off with schools out and Memorial Day behind us, hard working folks in East Alabama are facing a tough choice at the pump: pay more or drive less.

Each week – sometimes each day – gas goes up. This week it was almost $4.00 a gallon. Diesel was heading towards $5.

Clearly, as a nation we can’t keep going on this path. We need a new energy policy immediately, a “can do” American sensibility that brings down energy costs and reduces our dependency on foreign oil.

As we’re all seeing that dependency is driving up prices everywhere, from the gas pump to the grocery store.

To get gas prices down – or to keep them from rising further – Congress needs to act immediately.

First, we need to increase the supply of oil. Where is that oil located? Right here in the United States off Alabama’s coast in the Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska.

But up in Washington, Congress is saying “no” when it comes to using these domestic energy sources.

This is outrageous. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, we’re sitting on an estimated 7.7 billion barrels of oil in Alaska alone. In the Gulf of Mexico, the Department of the Interior estimates we have 86 billion barrels of undiscovered oil.

For Congress to deny access to these resources while Big Oil makes billions in profits and the working poor, seniors, and small businesses take it on the chin is just unacceptable.

I have voted several times to allow our nation to use oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge and the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately the environmental lobby has stopped this effort dead in its tracks.

But more oil isn’t the only solution. Congress must stand up against price fixing.  Recently Congress passed a bill that allows the U.S. to sue foreign countries like the members of OPEC for manipulating oil prices. 

We have stopped oil shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This could take some of the pressure off of the demand for oil and gas.

Most importantly, we must move away from imported oil and towards alternative renewable fuels.

That’s going to take money. To help us get there, I have supported bills that repeal tax credits for Big Oil and use that money to fund alternative fuel research. 

As many folks in East Alabama may have seen, the Farm Bill recently passed the House of Representatives as well. This isn’t a perfect bill, but it did include $1 billion in funding for alternative energy and development research.

And lastly, we should move toward greater usage of nuclear power and coal. Environmentally safe nuclear energy, in particular, holds incredible promise, as does coal, especially for the use of plug-in hybrid vehicles that run primarily on electricity. This technology holds great promise in helping increase fuel efficiency, which will also be key in lowering our need to import foreign oil.

And given the U.S. is known as the “Saudi Arabia of coal” we should continue to find new ways to use coal to help lower our dependence on foreign oil.

As always, please contact me with yours concerns at www.house.gov/mike-rogers.