In my travels across Western Pennsylvania I hear people's frustrations about the increasing gas prices. They are all of us--people who need to be able to get to and from work and take our children to and from school without going broke. 

I heard a woman today say that she'd love to buy a hybrid vehicle, but the money is just not there. People need action from Congress to help ease the steady rise in gas prices NOW.  It's unrealistic and naïve to think that even if folks could afford to buy one there would be enough hybrid vehicles available to replace each vehicle.  And what about the working person whose truck is imperative to his living?  Is he supposed to load up the Prius? 

Real people need real solutions from Congress.

The impact on small businesses has been devastating and obvious as we pursue our daily routines.  Look at the burden on independent truckers, electricians, plumbers, construction workers, pizza shops, florists, and many others.  The effect on large businesses such as airlines, delivery companies and others has also been severe.  This is, unfortunately only the beginning, and other businesses are being hurt as food and other consumer goods prices have been rising in concert with gasoline prices.   

You have probably heard the stories recently about school sports trips being cancelled.  Volunteer efforts are being scaled back because there is not enough money in the budget to cover the increased cost of gas, or the volunteers cannot afford the cost of travel to do their good work.  Seniors and others living on fixed or static incomes are hurting as well. 

It is time for policymakers to offer real solutions, both for the present and for the future of our country, something that continues to elude our current elected leaders.  Some of them have even suggested that we must move away from oil and invest every penny into research and development for alternative fuels.  While I agree we need to develop sustainable alternative fuel sources, taking oil off the table in the short-term will do nothing but bring financial ruin to families and businesses which are already suffering.  

The recent energy bill from the Congress contains efforts to reduce U.S. oil consumption.  However, these won't have even the slightest impact until the year 2020.  What then are American families to do for the next 12 years?  Families and businesses will continue to rely on traditional motor fuel in the immediate future. Will prices just continue to increase? The hydrogen or electric cars, solar panels and windmills of the future do nothing to solve the energy problems of today.  The problem certainly relates to higher demand worldwide, but we can alleviate some of the pain at the pump by looking at the broad picture and making sure the pieces of the puzzle fit together. 

Let us examine domestic supply of oil.  Well-intended, but impractical and uncoordinated public policies have prevented us from further developing our own resources, and prevented new refining technologies from being utilized.  Just last month, a motion was put forward to expedite the approval of three closed military bases as sites for possible locations for new oil and natural gas refineries - unfortunately that motion failed.  A current effort to modernize and expand a refinery in the Midwest has been stymied by overregulation.  We must enact policies that ensure more oil is available and able to be processed while we develop alternative energy sources with the practical capacity to meet our future needs.  There are currently a number of energy sources available to us here in the United States that we must explore NOW.

Recently, Brazil discovered two very large oil fields in the Atlantic Ocean.  These fields are so immense that Brazil is expected to become entirely independent from Middle Eastern Supplies.  The US Minerals Management Service has estimated there are an additional 85.9 billion barrels of undiscovered recoverable oil in our own Outer Continental Shelf.

Current federal policies and some states restrict oil and gas exploration or even doing an analysis of the potential in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.  America should not stand by and let other countries snatch these resources as we stand by frozen. Rep. John Peterson, of Venango County has introduced legislation to allow us to access it.  We must move forward and seek these resources NOW.

The Department of the Interior estimates that 60 percent of federal lands have potential sources of natural gas and oil that are currently closed to exploration. In 1995, President Bill Clinton vetoed legislation that would have opened up ANWR to oil exploration. Since then, new attempts to do so have been met with resistance by the Congress. Despite the fact that a recent Gallup Poll found that 57% of Americans support expanding domestic energy exploration to help ease the current energy crisis, congress resists moving ahead.  Has congress been too greatly influenced by the environmental groups who pad their campaign coffers?  It is time for our leaders to support the will of the people.  According to the US Geological Survey mean estimate, opening up ANWR could yield a 20% increase in domestic production.  We must support policies that allow environmentally safe domestic exploration to help the U.S. become energy independent, NOW.

There is no good reason why our country should continue to depend so heavily on foreign oil when we have resources in our own backyard.  We must focus on developing them NOW.  We face not only an uncertain present, but also an uncertain future if we do not.  To solve our energy problems, and we must support practical initiatives NOW that will work for real Americans today--as we continue to invest in alternatives for tomorrow.  Only this will lead us toward a more dynamically energized future.