The Affect of Skyrocketing Oil Prices-Beyond the Gas Pump

As the summer driving season ends, and the winter demand for heating fuel begins, the effects of record-high oil and gasoline prices on American families are set to go from bad to worse. The failure of Congressional Republicans to address the underlying reasons for skyrocketing energy prices is a failure to protect American families, the American economy, and America's national security.

Without a doubt, the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, and to a lesser extent Hurricane Rita, has had a profound impact on the American energy industry. Nothing could have been done to prevent these natural catastrophes. However, much more should have been done to prepare our energy economy for hurricanes that we know are likely to hit every year.

Democrats are fighting to mitigate the impact of the current energy crisis in the immediate aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We have a plan that will make certain that the federal government does everything possible to prevent price gouging and profiteering by those who would exploit the fallout of these natural disasters for personal monetary gain. This plan entails giving the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) more authority to prosecute oil companies found engaging in price gouging of gasoline, natural gas, or home heating oil. It also enables the federal government to impose stiff penalties on corporations who are found guilty of cheating American consumers. In addition, Democrats seek to expand the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), to help the most vulnerable citizens keep their homes heated this winter.

These disasters have only served to reinforce the need to diversify our energy supply. Democrats will continue to offer ideas on how to expand the use of renewable and alternative fuels, as well as put forward long-term policies to protect consumers from fraud and manipulation of gas and energy prices, ease the shock of the skyrocketing costs of fuel, and avoid a recurrence of these shortages and price spikes.

Even before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region, gas prices had fluctuated greatly but were up on average 78 percent since 2000. In just the last year, prices had risen by an average of 74 cents a gallon. It now costs significantly more for people to drive to the grocery store, to pick up prescriptions from the pharmacy, and to drive their children to school in the morning.

Once Americans drive to the grocery store, they are also going to pay more because of the burden higher energy costs have placed on the nation's farm industry. Maryland farmers know this all too well. Since last year, fertilizer costs (from natural gas) have jumped by 15 percent, leaving farmers saddled with nearly $8 billion in extra costs.

Anyone who owns a car already feels the pain of rising prices at the pump. Yet the rising cost of oil and natural gas will also leave some of the most vulnerable Americans to suffer through a long, cold winter.

I am very concerned about the effect that increased fuel costs are going to have on Americans when they pay their heating bills this winter. Families who use natural gas to heat their homes could face a cost increase of almost 71 percent in some places in the country. These families will have to pay on average $611 more than last year. Americans who heat their homes with heating oil may have to pay 34 percent more – adding up to an average increase of $403.

Unless the government steps up to help these citizens, as Democrats in Washington are pushing to do, these families will be faced with the choice of keeping their children and themselves fed or keeping their families warm—a choice Americans should never have to make.

Additionally, and of equal importance, the occurrence of back-to-back hurricanes striking directly at the heart of America's oil producing region illustrates why our dependence on foreign oil is a threat to our national security. When our oil producing capabilities are crippled due to a natural disaster, America must rely even more heavily on oil from the Middle East and other areas. This leaves us extraordinarily vulnerable to political instability that may arise in these countries.

We cannot prevent natural disasters from occurring. However, we must adopt policies that will protect us from the economic damage they cause. Democrats will continue to fight for an energy policy that will make us less dependent on foreign oil, more prepared for times of natural disaster, and that will encourage the production of sustainable, renewable and innovative sources of energy.