April 30, 2008
By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau

MONTPELIER — U.S. Rep. Peter Welch had one thought as he watched President Bush's morning press conference deriding Congressional Democrats for alleged inaction on economic issues.

"It was really baffling to me," Welch said by phone from Washington, D.C., on Tuesday afternoon. "If he really intends to do something for working people, he would first start by suspending shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve."

With the cost of gasoline topping $4 a gallon in many parts of the country — prices here in Vermont have floated around the $3.50 mark this week — Welch and other Democrats in the U.S. House are proposing to temporarily cease putting oil in the emergency reserve, a move they say will drop prices by about 25 cents.

Welch has proposed a bill that would order officials within the U.S. Department of Energy to stop adding oil to that reserve — as the federal government voluntarily did after 2005's Hurricane Katrina — for the rest of the year or until the price per barrel of oil drops to $50.

That reserve already has more than 700 million barrels of oil in it, Welch said, more than enough to handle an emergency. Suspending these contributions will drive down prices, although any long-term energy plan would still need to focus on green technology and moving away from fossil fuels, he said.

"The president can do this with a strike of his pen," said Welch, who has more than 60 other House lawmakers signed onto his proposal. "But if he won't, we'll take action."

In a press conference at the White House Tuesday, Bush criticized the Democratic-controlled Congress for not taking action on his initiatives relating to the economy and energy, such as authorizing more drilling for oil on U.S. land.

He dismissed calls for ceasing contributions to the petroleum reserve, saying "it is in our national interest" to continue sending about 70,000 barrels of oil a day to that fund.

Vermont's two U.S. senators also came out against Bush's assertions during his press conference Tuesday.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., pointed out that gas and oil prices have risen dramatically during Bush's time as president and linked his background to the oil industry to his alleged inability to make drastic reforms.

"They have coddled their Big Oil allies, even as oil prices have more than doubled, generating a massive transfusion of income from consumers' pocketbooks to the bank accounts of the oil companies and their overseas partners," Leahy said in a statement. "Average gas prices hit a new record in Vermont this week, passing $3.55 a gallon. Vermonters are feeling the crunch in every part of their lives."

Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., on Tuesday proposed a windfall tax on the profitd made by oil companies. While the price of gas has more than doubled in the past decade, these companies "continue to enjoy record-breaking profits."

Two of the largest oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell and BP Global, recently announced first-quarter 2008 profits totaling $17 billion, Sanders said.

"With the price of oil and gas skyrocketing … the time has come, among other things, to impose a windfall profits tax on the oil companies so that consumers don't get gouged at the pump," Sanders said in a statement. "Congress and the president must say 'no' to the $213 million in campaign contributions that the oil industry has given to them since 1990 and 'yes' to consumers by taking this important step."

Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@rutlandherald.com.