WEEKLY SENATE UPDATE

CONFRONTING ENERGY SHORTAGES

But the impact of this tragedy has reverberated throughout our nation and its consequences have been stark. Gasoline prices stand above $3 a gallon and in some parts of the country people are being forced to wait in lines to fill up their tanks. I have heard from people through out Maine who are frustrated and angry at the price of gasoline and heating oil. There are communities that have instructed their schools to keep the temperatures in their classrooms at 65 degrees to conserve, bus drivers told they will not be allowed to keep their buses idling, small businesses bottom lines impacted and our most vulnerable – the sick, the poor, the elderly – left with uncertainty as the wonder how they will afford their winter heating bills. The people of Maine have every right to expect that the federal government will act to provide relief.

Prior to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in the Gulf region, Americans were facing record prices for oil, natural gas and propane.  However, the destruction caused by the hurricane has curtailed gasoline production at refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, the source of almost a third of U.S. oil output, and consequently increased prices to even higher levels.   The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) exists for use in dire emergency and should not be used lightly. But in the aftermath of this tragedy, there are those of us in Congress who believed it was a national imperative that the President release a portion of the SPR in an effort to bring down the price of gas. And in the face of a severe disruption in supply and skyrocketing gas prices, President Bush has rightly acted to stabilize our oil supply and bring relief at the pump.

While this action will ease pressure on consumers of gasoline, I am equally concerned about the possibility of high home heating oil prices this winter.  Joining with Senator Susan Collins, we have asked the President to consider a $900 million in emergency heating assistance in a supplemental funding request to help the millions of Americans endangered by Hurricane Katrina. This program, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP, is always underfunded. But its value cannot be overstated – it provides a vital safety net for the nation’s low-income households and works to help low-income families, senior citizens, and disabled individuals maintain economic stability. These families often carry a higher energy burden than most Americans- spending up to 17 percent of their income on home energy bills. Each year, this burden grows as natural gas, heating oil and propane prices continue to increase. If our oil prices remain at their current level, it means that there will be less of this limited funding to go around.

As a nation, now is the time for serious introspection – how have we allowed ourselves to become so dependent on foreign petroleum resources? Why did we not look at alternatives that will allow the American people to get more from the fuel they have and at lower prices. We need higher fuel economy standards for our cars and trucks; we need to promote greater energy efficiency, and we need a greater variety of fuel sources including renewables like biomass, wind and solar.

We stand at a precipice of uncertainty and sorrow. Hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from this unthinkable tragedy throughout the South. The question is how do we move forward for the future, so that we will not be in this situation again. For the near term, the South must be rebuilt and the people given the resources they so desperately need. For the long term, we must take the necessary steps so we won’t ever be confronted by this tragedy again in the future.