Money In The Tank, Instead Of The Bank

Recent media reports show that the average U.S. retail gas price has risen to an all-time high, breaking $3 a gallon. I recently paid $3.04, 20 cents a gallon more than I paid two weeks ago. I know many other American families are also feeling the pinch.

These increased gas prices can be linked to a variety of factors. Recent news reports suggest that production shortages at a time of increased demand as we go into the summer months are to blame. But, more directly, the problem can be traced to a continuing lack of refining capacity and unexpected outages at the nation's oil refineries.

The price of a gallon of oil is still $10 below last year when prices spiked. Demand, however, has increased 2.3 percent from the same period last year, and existing refineries are unable to meet the ever-rising demand for gasoline.

Because of high costs, regulatory red tape, and public opposition, refiners haven't built a new facility for more than 30 years, since 1976. The system is under such strain that consumers quickly feel any outages or disruptions. For instance, after Hurricane Katrina damaged refineries in the Gulf, prices nationwide went up 45 cents in just one week.

The lack of domestic refining capacity also increases our reliance on foreign sources of refined gasoline. America now imports about a million barrels of gasoline every day--that means that about one of every 10 gallons of gas Americans get at the pump is refined in a foreign country.

Last year when prices spiked, Republicans saw the strain on the existing system, and we tried to do something about it by addressing the lack of domestic refinery capacity. We introduced legislation to help streamline and incentivize the construction of new refineries, but Democrats ultimately blocked our efforts.

We were finally able to pass legislation that opened new areas in the deep waters off the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas exploration to bring more supply on line, but that will take roughly 18 months to start showing results. Republicans nevertheless, recognize that it is in our national security interest to increase domestic supply, including exploration in Alaska's ANWR, to reduce our reliance on foreign oil.

I also introduced legislation last year to ensure that oil companies pay their fair share for the oil and gas they produce from public lands. I expect a version of this bill to pass this year. And I also introduced legislation to remove the 54-cent import tariff on ethanol, to help lower the price consumers pay at the pump.

The only way we are going to be able to provide relief in the near term is to increase supply by reducing our reliance on imported energy, producing more of it domestically, and relieving some of the regulatory impediments that have made it impossible to create a new refinery in this country in the last 30 years.

Republicans believe we ought to work together, on a bipartisan basis, to relieve the pain at the pump of working men and women and families all across this country.