We Believe

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should call Congress into special session to pass legislation for a comprehensive energy plan.

Some might label it grandstanding, but the efforts of U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., to force a vote on a new energy bill are grounded in a serious issue that demands fast — though thoughtful — action.

Pence, who represents the Anderson area, and other House Republicans have been pushing on Capitol Hill for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to call Congress into special session to deal with the energy crisis.

Pence has been at the forefront of the Republican protest, spending much of the past two weeks since the adjournment of Congress in Washington. On the floor of the House, on television, on radio, on the Internet and in print, Pence and his brethren have been applying serious pressure on Pelosi.

The Republicans are pushing for more drilling of domestic oil as part of a comprehensive plan to bring down the price of gasoline and reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Concerns about the environmental impact of more drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS, and in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, are legitimate, as is the sentiment that America should leave gasoline dependency in the rearview mirror by focusing on the development of other energy sources such as battery, thermal, hydrogen-cell and wind.

However, as Pence has often pointed out, consumers here in Indiana — and across the nation — are suffering daily because of the steep climb of gasoline prices. It’s driven the price of virtually every retail item upward. Merchants, particularly small-business owners, feel the pinch acutely, too. Many lose their profits when they have to pay higher wholesale prices to restock their shelves.

It would take several years for the flow of oil from fresh drilling at home to produce more than a drop in the barrel of U.S. oil use. Depending on political agenda, reports estimate drilling in ANWR would eventually produce 2-10 percent of the country’s oil needs.

However, the approval of new drilling at home could cause crude oil futures to fall much more quickly. In July, when President Bush lifted a presidential moratorium on drilling for oil and natural gas along the OCS, the market responded immediately and oil prices dipped. Pence believes that congressional approval of more domestic drilling would cause crude oil futures to fall again. He also believes that there would be bipartisan agreement on an energy plan that would allow more domestic drilling.

While speculators, oil companies and politicians jockey for position in the energy debate, here in the Heartland, folks are demanding immediate action. And that’s precisely what Pence, as our representative, should be generating.

Pelosi, a driving force behind the congressional special session to deal with Hurricane Katrina in 2005, should order Congress back to work right away to draft, debate and pass a comprehensive energy bill that provides both immediate relief and long-term solutions.