(D-Maine)
Now more than ever, the rising prices at the pump are affecting us all. While Americans are struggling to keep up with increasing costs, Big Oil companies continue to rake in record profits. Truck drivers who provide our nation with the products that we all need to live our daily lives have been hit especially hard by skyrocketing prices. Last week a group of those truckers from Maine joined their counterparts from all over the U.S. at a rally in Washington on the issue of high diesel prices.
I strongly support the position of the hardworking men and women who came to Washington to push the federal government to act. As the big rigs’ horns blasted over Capitol Hill and throughout Washington, the truckers communicated their message loud and clear – people across our country are hurting and they are fed up with inaction. Diesel prices are devastating our truckers and many of our small businesses in Maine, just as high gas prices are hurting every American consumer. Unfortunately, current fuel prices are likely to get worse before they get better – demand will increase as the summer driving season approaches. The time for action is now.
It is my hope that the truckers’ advocacy helps convince the President and those in Congress, who have blocked attempts to help address their concerns, to finally do the right thing. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that I sit on certainly heard them – the Chairman has announced that we will hold a hearing on rising diesel fuel costs in the trucking industry on May 6th.
While news of the hearing is positive, Congress has already passed legislation to crack down on oil price gouging, hold OPEC accountable for oil price fixing, and repeal subsidies for profit-rich Big Oil so that we can invest in a renewable energy future. President Bush needs to sign this legislation, instead of blocking these efforts. It is long past time that this Administration actually works with Congress to pass meaningful reforms rather than issuing veto threats to protect the record profits of Big Oil.
As a part of the solution, I strongly support ending the abuses of energy market speculators. Legislation that I have cosponsored would require “off-market” energy speculators to play by the same rules that traders that participate in on-market trading already do. Passing this legislation would promote strict accountability by providing transparency and oversight to off-market energy trading. According to recent congressional testimony on this issue, an economist estimated that this increased oversight alone could reduce the price of crude oil by as much as $30 a barrel and reduce the price of natural gas by one-third.
Another immediate step that would help reduce the cost of fuel would be to suspend purchases of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) temporarily. Filling the SPR takes 70,000 barrels of oil off the market each day, even though the reserve is 97 percent full with enough to meet our national security needs. At a time of record prices, suspending these government purchases, as we have done in the past, could reduce gas prices by 5 to 24 cents a gallon.
In Maine, we need to increase the federal weight limit to 100,000 pounds across the entirety of the Interstate Highway System. Currently, the heaviest trucks must divert off the Interstate highways onto state roads. This increases the cost of shipping Maine products to market, makes trucks burn more fuel and carry less freight, increases the likelihood of accidents, and ultimately puts us at a competitive disadvantage to neighboring states like New Hampshire who currently enjoy higher truck weight limits on their Interstate.
In the long-term, I will continue to strongly support investment in the research and development of tomorrow’s energy technologies to help move proven technologies from the lab to the field. I also support legislation increasing the federal contribution toward energy research as well as legislation promoting the deployment of wind and biomass technology.
The truckers’ rally in Washington demonstrates that inaction will no longer be tolerated.
