NEAL P. GOSWAMI, Bennington Banner Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

BENNINGTON — Vermonters had a chance to voice opinions and ask questions about energy and fuel prices Tuesday in a statewide conference call with U.S. Rep. Peter Welch.

First-ever event

Welch, D-Vt., a freshman congressman, held his first-ever "telephone town hall meeting" to help Vermonters understand why fuel prices are rising dramatically and what Congress is doing in Washington to help mitigate the impact on Americans.

"I go home every weekend and we've got an energy crisis. What I'm hearing from Vermonters is that it's really consuming them," Welch said.

He said Congress is working on several "short-term goals" to help ease prices at the gas pump for consumers who are also worrying about paying heating bills in the winter. Congress has stopped shipments to the nation's strategic reserve for the time being, he said, and are working to pass legislation that would tax the windfall profits of oil companies.

"I, for the life of me, can't understand why taxpayers should give them an additional $17 billion," Welch said.

Congress also recently increased fuel efficiency standards in automobiles for the first time in 25 years, Welch said.

"They're not long-term solutions and they're not going to solve the problems, but at least it's a step in the right direction," he said.

Welch said he is also working to "close the Enron loophole," which allows the price of oil to be affected by speculation.

"I'm sponsoring legislation ... to restore regulations so that the price that you pay reflects supply and demand, not the speculators, who, quite frankly, are ripping us off," Welch said.

Sean Cota, president of Cota and Cota Inc., which sells heating fuel in Bellows Falls, has testified in front of Congress earlier this year about fuel prices. He said about $2 of every gallon of gasoline is "going right to Wall Street."

"This is a bubble and it's going to burst," Cota said.

Welch fielded some questions counter to his political views, telling one caller that drilling domestically for oil was not in the country's best interest.

"We've got to come to terms with the fact that oil is a diminishing resource," Welch said. "As a long-run matter, are we going to be able to drill our way out? Very unlikely."

Americans should also be getting relief from Iraq, which is seeing large increases in revenue from oil.

"Iraq is going to have at least $70 billion in oil revenue this year, and there's no reason that the American taxpayers should be spending as much as they are and getting nothing back," he said.

Meanwhile, another member of Vermont's congressional delegation had sharp words for Senate Republicans Tuesday.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., blasted his colleagues for blocking a proposal that would allow the government to tax the windfall profits of the largest oil companies.

"The American people are sick and tired of paying $4 dollars a gallon for gas. In the Northeast, people are worried about how they're going to stay warm next winter, while at the same time Exxon-Mobil has made more profits than any company in the history of the world," Sanders said.

The Senate vote Tuesday was 51 to 43, nine votes short of the 60 required to overcome a filibuster and bring legislation up for consideration.