(Host) All three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation oppose President Bush’s proposal to allow oil drilling off the U.S. coast.
They describe the plan as "a gimmick" that won’t help lower gas prices for years to come.
Instead, they have their own short term plan to lower energy prices.
VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports.
(Kinzel) The Congressional ban on offshore oil drilling has been in place for over 25 years but rising energy prices are causing some political leaders to revisit this issue.
Several bills have been introduced in Congress – most of them give individual states the final say on the question of allowing coastline drilling.
Supporters of the ban cite a 2007 Department of Energy study that concludes that offshore drilling won’t have an impact on the country’s domestic oil supply until 2030.
Senator Patrick Leahy says that’s a compelling reason to keep the ban in place.
(Leahy) "It’s a gimmick and at the best it wouldn’t do anything to prices for another 20 years. I think most Vermonters and others are very concerned about the prices today, not 20 years from now."
(Kinzel) Senator Bernie Sanders argues that the best way to lower gas prices in the short term is to re-regulate the energy futures market on Wall Street.
(Sanders) "What you’re seeing from a bipartisan perspective – some Republicans are out there raising this issue very forcefully – is that we’ve got to deal with this speculation issue, which a number of experts think is driving up the price of oil by 25 to 50 percent. That is what you do if you’re serious about lowering gas and oil prices right now."
(Kinzel) Senator Leahy says oil prices are also sky high because the fiscal policies of the Bush administration have weakened the U.S. dollar.
(Leahy) "The other thing that people don’t seem to want to talk about is that President Bush financed the war in Iraq with borrowed money. That’s driven down the value of the dollar. Look at the value of the dollar against the euro. It’s about half of what it was. Well, if you’re buying oil in dollars and oil is priced in dollars and the value of a dollar drops in half, it’s pretty simple. The price of oil doubles right there."
(Kinzel) Congressman Peter Welch says it’s wrong to open up new areas for drilling when the oil companies have onshore and offshore leases that they could be using right now.
(Welch) "I travel around Vermont. A lot of people express to me skepticism. They have this sense that they’re getting ripped off. And, in fact, I think they’re right. The oil companies have these leases, but they’re stockpiling them. The longer they wait the more they make. That oil, it’s in the ground and goes from $25 a barrel, $50 to $75, up to $134. If they wait for it to go to $200, they make even more."
(Kinzel) All three members of the delegation say they hope that a comprehensive, bipartisan, short term approach will be approved in the next few weeks.
For VPR News, I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier