Truckers drove around the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Apr. 28, blowing the horns on their rigs and shouting through bullhorns before an afternoon rally to protest record-high diesel fuel prices.
The US Energy Information Administration reported the same day that the nationwide average retail price for diesel was $4.177/gal, up 49% from Apr. 30, 2007, when diesel was selling for $2.811/gal.
Members of the 110th Congress say their constituents complain about high food and fuel prices. The voters are restless as almost a third of the Senate and nearly the entire House stand for reelection. It’s increasingly apparent that many members feel pressure to “do something.”
Most probably won’t be satisfied for very long to simply let House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) say Democrats have done nothing since regaining control of Congress early in 2007 while fuel prices have continued to climb, or let Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) respond that House Democrats have passed at least three measures aimed at higher fuel prices that deserve Republican support.
What measures involve
That support isn’t likely. The measures involve giving the Federal Trade Commission broader authority to prosecute alleged price gouging activity, ordering the Department of Justice to apply US antitrust laws to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and moving $18 billion in tax incentives from major oil companies to alternative energy programs.
Republicans argue that it would be more constructive to increase domestic oil and gas supplies by authorizing leases on more of the Outer Continental Shelf, within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and in more of the Rocky Mountains. Many Democrats think producing more fossil fuels simply will accelerate global climate change.
Democrats and Republicans also won’t likely come together behind Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) call to suspend the federal gasoline tax through the summer. But they could embrace Sen. Byron L. Dorgan’s (D-ND) bill to halt purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
‘Momentum is building’
Dorgan, who has changed the purchase suspension trigger from $50/bbl to $75/bbl after introducing the measure on Feb. 6, still plans to attach it to another bill. “He has the support of all 51 Democratic senators and, now, all three major presidential candidates. So momentum is building,” a member of his staff told me.
In the House, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) has spoken out frequently on the issue. The night before an Apr. 24 hearing on SPR management issues by the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which Markey chairs, nine House Republicans said they support halting purchases in a letter to Pelosi. If GOP backing continues to grow in Congress, pressure will increase on the White House to drop its opposition.
Markey was noncommittal when asked if he would support Dorgan’s bill if it reaches the House. “Hope springs eternal. I’m hoping the president realizes this is a problem and does something,” he said.