Free Republic

Using a Sinclair service station as a backdrop, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch unveiled a bill Thursday aimed at increasing domestic oil production while reducing gas prices at the pump. "Whether you're a mother driving your daughter to ballet, a farmer working the soil on your tractor, a small business that makes deliveries or one that relies on deliveries, or even a senator making a long commute every day, we have all been feeling the sting of high gas prices," Hatch, R-Utah, said during a news conference. Hatch plans to introduce his bill, titled "Gas Price Reduction Through Increased Refining...

The California governor's office says the federal government should buy back leases and allow no more drilling northward of Point Mugu. No stand taken on liquefied natural gas terminals proposed for California waters. New attempts to add offshore oil rigs in California coastal waters are running into the Terminator, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is making it clear he opposes new pro-drilling initiatives coming from the oil industry, the White House and Congress. The efforts to drill for new sources of oil and natural gas off the California coast have been publicized at the same time that work continues behind...