'Green' Politicians Add to Gas Price Woes

FoxNews.com ^ | April 27, 2006 | Steven Milloy

[Small-L]

Amid the race between politicians to capitalize on consumer anger at high gas prices, at least one member of Congress, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., expressed a much-needed perspective on the problem -- these same politicians own a share of the blame.

...Rep. Blackburn observed, “If we're going to work toward [energy independence], we’re going to have to do some things differently. Now, I can tell you one of the things that I wish had been done differently is over the past 30 years, we have had environmental extremists driving energy policy in this country, saying no to everything.”

[Small-L]

Amazing, a politician willing to tell the truth! And a Republican from Tennessee to boot! Three cheers for Ms. Blackburn. Now if she could just convince Schumer and Bush.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

One of the more recent insanities was by the Missouri Legislature, which mandated 10 percent ethanol in all Missouri gasoline by 2008. Missouri doesn't have enough farm ground to produce enough corn to do this...

[goldstategop]

And those morons Hastert and Frist. But common sense and courage are in short supply in Washington - where politicians most immediate concern is not the country's welfare but whatever it takes to get through the next election, even if that is a counterproductive policy.

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[Prysson]

UNfortunately one politician isnt enough.

[FreeInWV]

Now there is something that has needed said for awhile. IMHO, the president needs to formulate a real energy policy. He needs to dramatically relax restrictions on drilling in ANWR and other parts of Alaska as well as in offshore coastal areas. He needs to dramatically relax restrictions on refineries. Actually he should require that oil companies be actively building them and he should formulate a no-export policy for crude oil. It will take awhile to get this energy policy passed. In the interim, he should do it through executive order. He should then drop the federal gasoline tax until the energy policy passes congress.

He can talk conservation all he wants, but that won't solve our problems.

[eraser2005]

"He can talk conservation all he wants, but that won't solve our problems."

It won't solve them, but opening up drilling and refinery construction won't help either unless we cut demand. It's not an either/or problem. Both approaches are needed together.

[kaktuskid]

Apparently you want a dictator, not a president

There are a couple of things called courts and congress

[FreeInWV]

So in your eyes, its ok to curtail civil liberties in the name of the war on terror, but don't diss the environmentalists in the name of energy security?

[FreeInWV]

If you really want, I would gladly support a dramatic shrinking of government and a revokation of the the power of the president to issue executive orders. Unchecked power in the DEP is what caused most of this mess in the first place.