The 17th District Congressman said in Kewanee Saturday that high gasoline and diesel fuel prices are hurting people, schools and local governments.

For example, he said at a news conference at City Hall Saturday, the city of Moline has had to pay $208,000 more for diesel fuel this year than last year.

Mayor Bruce Tossell said Kewanee solicits yearly bids for fuel, which locks in the price. But he said cities that don’t have that advantage may have to cut back on services, or cut personnel, or both.

Tossell also observed that gasoline prices in Kewanee often seem to be higher than in surrounding communities.

Hare said the average price of gas in Illinois is $3.47 — up 136 percent from a year ago.. Exxon Mobile earned $40.6 billion in 2007, the largest corporate profit in American history, he added.

While gasoline prices are keyed to the price of crude oil — which is near record levels — Hare said he feels prices might still be higher than they need to be.

“I’m not convinced that these prices aren’t being manipulated at the pump,” he said. “I’m a card-carrying capitalist and I want businesses to make money, but when I see these kinds of numbers, they just don’t jibe.”

A Democrat from Rock Island who so far has no Republican opponent in the November election, Hare said energy conservation and shifting the energy burden to renewable sources like wind, solar and biofuels are the key to having abundant, affordable energy. He said oil companies should direct some of their huge profits into developing non-petroleum-based fuels.

“We’ve got to get off this Mideast oil crunch we’re on,” he said.

Tax breaks might be one way the federal government can help, Hare suggested —both for cities facing rising fuel costs and for citizens who have to drive back and forth to work.

“I’m tired of seeing ordinary people taking it all the time, and these people (oil companies) walking off with this kind of profits,” Hare said. He added that government should “help people out, not bail them out.”

Fuel prices have also impacted air travel, Hare said. He said he returns to his district from the nation’s capital almost every weekend, and although he tries to be present whenever the House votes on bills, he has missed eight votes “because I’ve been stuck on the tarmac.”