Farr Takes Clear Stand on Gas Prices

The steady increase in the cost of gas is one of the toughest problems facing our country. Not only does it directly affect the pocketbooks of millions of Americans, but the problem is difficult to control from a government standpoint. I propose a three-prong solution.

First and foremost, we need immediate action. Congress should consider emergency measures to address these ballooning prices. The short-term solution might come in the form of price caps or even a price freeze, placing a temporary ceiling on gas prices. We need to keep all those options on the table as we proceed.

Second, as a medium-term solution, we must address the grossly inflated profits that oil companies are siphoning from American families. It's unacceptable that the president refuses to consider ending the use of taxpayer dollars to subsidize the oil companies. The president fumes about using tax dollars to help out farmers, but doesn't bat an eye at sending many billions of dollars to the oil industry. Such hypocrisy is unacceptable.

Finally, Washington must have a long-term plan. Congress is already using its power to debate and pass laws intended to address the root causes of gas price instability. We forced the president to temporarily stop sending more oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and we're working on bills to reign anticompetitive conduct by the oil cartels and to support alternative fuels, which are already having an effect on gas consumption.

Some talking heads say all we need to do is drill more, especially in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I have two responses to that. First, drilling in the pristine ANWR will take 20 years to see any results, and then it will save a grand total of a penny per gallon. It is not a solution. Second, drilling has increased dramatically since 2000, climbing about 66 percent. On top of that, the federal government has already opened up leases to 68 million acres of federal land that oil companies aren't even tapping.

One thing is certain: American consumers can't continue paying more and more for gas while oil companies continue racking up record profits.

• There are 68 million acres onshore and offshore in the United States that are leased by oil companies -- open to drilling and actually under lease -- but not developed.
• Drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge wouldn't yield any oil for 10 years, and then would only save the consumer 1.8 cents per gallon in 2030.
• If oil companies tapped the 68 million federal acres of leased land it would generate an estimated 4.8 million barrels of oil a day -- six times what ANWR would produce at its peak.
• 80 percent of the oil available on the Outer Continental Shelf is already open for leasing, but oil companies have decided it isn't worth their money to drill there.
• The United States has only 1.6 percent of world's known oil supply, but Americans consume one quarter of the world's daily oil consumption.