Washington Journal
CSPAN (CSPAN) National Programming, DMA: 0
08:05AM EDT May 21 2008
Programming Type: Talk News Politics Interview Public affairs

ost: joining us right now is representative marsha blackburn of tennessee. she is also a member of the energy and commerce committee. a story saying that gasoline could go up to $145 a barrel. what does that mean for the consumer? >> that means higher prices at the pump. guest: when you look at the issue, you wonder, who governs the matters? the message that you send matters. when you are sending a message which the liberal elite have said the most serious steps you want to take to get the price of oil down is to outlaw incandescent light bulbs, then that matters. it has ome consequences. this is one of the reasons the house republicans are stepping forward today with a statement of policy on this issue because what people are paying at the pump, we have to do something to get that down. but over the past year what we have seen is from the time the democrats took control the house -- of the house and senate, gasoline prices have gone up. in my home district they were paying 3.63 gallons for a gallon of regular. we know that there are steps to help bring that down. there is no easy but -- that, and you recognize that, but you also know that there re long term solutions that need to be taken and put into place. if the current leadership is not going to do that, we are going to step forward and be a little bit more vocal about this issue and get our statement of policy out there. host: so it is a series of bills that he will approach? guest: yes, a lot of members will go to this. we have brought many things forward. last week on our motion to recommit, we wanted to get rid of the gas tax over the summer. i want to come back to that point in a second. but let us way that guest house from memorial day over the summer. people are trying to et to sports and events, i can' t, the visiting with relatives. to make certain that this is not a mandate on our states, let us back of that fund by imposing a one-year earmark. we have some people so committed to this type of spending, they are not willing to step that a sign for a year and give the taxpayer a break. i think that is wrong. one of the reasons the senate is important is you allow the time for the consumers to see a break at the pump. then you take other actions. maybe we need to delay the mandate for the ethanol blends. maybe we need to look at a boutique fuel standards.

Washington Journal
CSPAN (CSPAN) National Programming, DMA: 0
08:09AM EDT May 21 2008
Programming Type: Talk News Politics Interview Public affairs

aybe they need to go to a standard grade fuel. what we know is the democrats' delaying and the lack of action on this issue has driven up the price at the pump to the point that americans are now spending 5% of their annual income on their gasoline. host: we' ll take some phone calls and a moment. he mentioned the gas tax. senator clinton and senator mccain mentioned this. many economists have found out that it would not be effective. guest: and they are right, to a certain extent. i am not saying it is a great, long time polic but for a short-term step, and only if you back feel that money to the highway trust fund so it is n a mandate to the state. you have to have those actions in tandem. we need to find you have a way to hedge short term relief. looking back and what has happened, since 1976, we have not build a refinery in the country. my first child was born in 1977. my first grandchild last week. in the life of this child, we have seen our refining capacity decrease in we have seen ever made for domestic transportation fuel increase. the reason it has the priest is because of the epa and osha in the impact of environmentalist hong this nation to revent building a refinery. look at exploration and production. what has happened? since this town was born, we have seen the impact of the environmentalists and osha with what has happened with oil exploration and production capabilities, making it more difficult to get that oil out of the ground. the permitting progress -- process is taking longer. when you know that this is happening and it is a supply and capacity issue, it is not wise to not address that issue, and we have delay in those or too long. in the 2005 energy act that we passed, it ook six years to get that. the environmentalists had such an impact on not one in this or that. what we have to do is admit we are a fossil fuel economy and right now we are dependent on that. we need to be rise -- why is, looking at nuclear, looking at alternatives. we need to be looking at renewable because a well-rounded energy portfolio is going to take some of all of that former grand how -- for my grandchild. his fuel and is going to be different from my daughters or mind. we need to get going on this. all of this political bickering needs to stop. the american people want some answers. ost: ogden, utah. caller: the immediate need of the american people are the high gas prices. prices here jumped 10 cents yesterday. sometimes i am thinking while i am filling my car up. why are they not talking about the real problem this moment which is the u.s. dollar? we all know that oil is priced in dollars. that evaluation of the dollar is what is driving prices. out here in utah, we have trillions of their roles in the oil shells that the congress and senate say we cannot develop them on federal land. as an american, i am wondering why the government owns some much land in utah hen it should belong to the state. also in the legislative bodies have the power to pass legislation that would time and hands of the environmentalists' instead of allowing them to run the country into the dirt. guest: many of his points are right on target. he made a good point, legislative bodies have to do something. it is the house and senate, both under democratic control, and they are delaying a decision. ve brought along a chart with me. let me show you a couple of things. we are looking at $3.80 at the pump. since the democrats came here, it has gone $1.46. they have made a couple of proposals. they want to suit op that will not save them any. they have had nine investigations into priced counting. that does not affect the price at the pump. they have for investigations into speculators. they have a new tax that they want to do. they had one vote on the filling of the spr, so that would reduce it by 5 cents. they cannot do anything to keep it going up further but they can get it down 5 cents, and that is what they are willing to vote for. what we are trying to do today is getting this price down under $2 a gallon. legislative bodies have the ability to make decisions. they are going to be tough and they are going to have to weave some rules on the