GOP blocks price relief

Thursday, June 12, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.

Headlines on Monday and over the weekend did not faze Senate Republicans, who on Tuesday blocked a plan by the Democrats to bring relief at the pump to American motorists.

“Surging oil alarms Wall Street,” blared USA Today. “Oil inflames U.S.-Saudi ties,” cried the Los Angeles Times. “Some pay 15 percent of income (for gas),” warned The New York Times.

Nevertheless, 43 Republicans joined to quash a Democratic bill that would have taxed windfall profits being made by the five largest U.S. oil companies.

There was a point behind this proposed tax. The oil companies could have avoided it by agreeing to invest the same amount in alternative energies and/or expanding their refinery capacity to increase gasoline supplies.

It is hard to imagine the oil companies’ paying out the tax instead of taking these two important steps toward lowering gas prices.

Other provisions in the bill included rescinding the tax breaks enjoyed by the largest oil companies and using the recovered money to boost production of alternative fuels.

Additionally, the bill would have put more teeth in regulations governing traders who speculate on oil futures. Many analysts believe oil market speculation is among the reasons for the spike in gas prices.

All of the bill’s measures would have worked against rising gas prices, which the Energy Department projected Tuesday will level off to a national average of $4.15 a gallon by August. That sounds optimistic, though, as gas prices in many areas are now spiraling well above that figure.

The Republicans offer no alternative plan, except blanketing environmentally sensitive areas of the country, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, with oil-drilling rigs. But if more drilling were the answer, as opposed to lessening demand, gas would be cheap. Between 1999 and last year, according to the House Committee on Natural Resources, the number of drilling permits issued for public lands increased more than 360 percent. And where are we now?

We hope that next year, with a new Congress in place, a bill offering actual solutions to high energy prices will pass.