Washington, D.C. -  As with millions of other Americans, I am frustrated with the cost of gasoline. More than any single issue at this time, people want action and they want it right away. So do I.

     There are long-term answers to the supply-and-demand problems that plague us today. But there are also some short-term responses that can ease the burden on us all.

     Chief among them is suspending diversions of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Seventy million gallons a day are going to the reserve, which is already at 96 percent of capacity. Allowing that quantity into the market could make a difference of several cents a gallon at the pump.

     I have written the House leadership, along with several of my colleagues, including Sens. John McCain and Susan Collins, in calling for a halt to these diversions.

     I am also in favor of a summer tax holiday on the 18.4-cent federal excise tax, as Sen. McCain has also suggested. I would also urge my former colleagues in the statehouse to heed Rep. Bill Black’s repeated calls for relief on the state gas sales tax, an onerous 6.25-percent tax on top of excise taxes we already pay.

     These are short-term measures and hardly the silver bullet that will bring down our dependency on foreign oil. At the same time, these are actions we can take now to provide some relief. We can’t sit on our hands and continue to watch these prices climb. I am very frustrated with the lethargy in leadership that seems content to sleepwalk through this crisis. People are hurting. People are angry. There are tangible measures we can take to alleviate the pain. That is why I have joined with these other Representatives to urge Speaker Pelosi to bring these ideas to the table.

     On a broader scale, we should expand refining capacity and streamline the permitting process in an environmentally responsible way to speed the supply of fuel to the market.

     We can extend tax incentives for renewable energy production and alternative energy research.

     We can offer tax incentives for auto manufacturers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, and for consumers to purchase them. I have been a consistent supporter of higher CAFÉ’ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards. The law of the land is now 35 mph by 2020. I think the industry can and should be more ambitious than that.

     Internationally, we can reach out diplomatically to countries where oil production is nationalized to achieve more reliable information about available reserves and production capacity.

     We can insist that Iraq take more responsibility in devoting its own oil profits to the restoration of its infrastructure.

     We can continue to work for a more robust Renewable Fuels Standard. We have just begun to scratch the surface of the promise of ethanol. Efficiencies continue to improve in the production of ethanol to the point producers are receiving around 3 gallons of ethanol per bushel compared with 2.3 gallons 10 years ago. Farmers can get more than 575 gallons of ethanol per acre per year. That’s 14 barrels an acre. And it grows back every year.

     There are 147 ethanol biorefineries nationwide with a capacity to produce 8.5 billion gallons a year. Another 55 refineries and six expansions are under construction with a combined capacity to produce another 5.1 billion gallons annually.

     Ethanol accounts for only about 4 percent of our domestic gasoline consumption. Coupled with new biofuel technologies, experts say that proportion could be bolstered to 25 percent.

     We have even more home-grown promise for energy independence in the FutureGen plant, which we have every intention of locating in Mattoon. FutureGen represents an environmentally conscious way to make the United States more energy independent, and put coal miners back to work, yet the Administration has tried to sideline those plans for no adequate reason.

     America has about a quarter of the world’s coal supply, enough to meet current demand for 250 years. There are proven processes for turning coal into liquid fuel for vehicles, and of course for sequestering carbon byproducts of its combustion.

     In summary, Illinois accounts for roughly a quarter of ethanol production.

     FutureGen promise clean-coal generation in our own backyard.

     Exelon, also in our backyard, promises efficient and cheap nuclear energy.

     Efficient and cheap wind energy is being demonstrated by huge and expanding wind farms in Livingston and McLean counties.

     The public is anxious, even desperate, to embrace not only these but other forms of alternative energy. Incentives to increase production of solar energy, hydrogen fuel cells and hydroelectricity also should be part of the equation. I have cosponsored legislation to extend all of the renewable energy tax credits, plus the tax credits for energy-efficiency improvements in the home.

     There is no single answer and no overnight solution. But that spectrum of approaches is what is required of our nation to achieve a genesis in a forward-thinking, transformative, consumer-friendly and environmentally friendly energy policy.

     As elected representatives, it is our job to create the incentives and programs to make the promise of those technologies a reality.

     In my mind, these are not hard decisions, but necessary and obvious decisions that can be made for the sake of the American people. I will continue to urge my colleagues to follow suit. 

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