New Mexico News
| 1st Congressional Disrict Hopefuls Offer Fuel-Cost Solutions |
| Posted by () on May 21 2008 at 3:50 PM |
Michelle Lujan Grisham, Democrat
"One is to require that we put OPEC in a position to negotiate in a much more equitable fashion (for lower prices). We've got huge power but we're not using it here.
"Create a less complex system from getting (oil) out of the ground to getting it here so that you can control price in the marketing and delivery.
"We've got to do something about consumption. We're the greediest country in the world in terms of our reliance on oil. We've got to go to biofuels," not only ethanol. "We're going to have to be much smarter about biofuels and what we can produce." Grisham would support tax credits for buyers of hybrids to make them more affordable.
She would not support a federal gasoline tax holiday. "I don't think it makes an impact. And it prevents people from addressing the problems at hand." She would consider setting a gas price cap.
Martin Heinrich, Democrat
"We should not be putting fuel into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when prices are this high. I also think we need to cut down on speculation. There are some loopholes that allow folks to trade around U.S. markets and some of that has driven up the price of gas.
Heinrich opposes a federal gasoline tax holiday. "What I would advocate for is a permanent middle class tax cut and then people can decide how to spend that. They can spend it on gas, they can spend it on college tuition. They can spend it on groceries. And that would be permanent and that would be meaningful.
"The long term solution to this: We start now getting serious about renewables and getting serious about efficiency and getting serious about the way cars are powered.
"In the long run we need to end our addiction to oil and switch to clean sources of energy."
Robert Pidcock, Democrat
"We need to make sure that oil companies in this country actually do operate in a free market system, and right now they don't.
"It needs to be a violation of anti-trust laws for oil companies to force set pricing on independent gas station owners. And it needs to be a violation of the anti-trust law for oil companies to tie their prices together. We have no real competition in gasoline prices in the country. Oil companies totally manipulate the price."
A similar change in anti-trust law could have the effect of increasing the number of oil refineries and introducing more competition into the refining market, which would lower prices and increase supply.
Pidcock would not support a gasoline-tax holiday. "That is such an unworkable and meaningless solution."
Rebecca Vigil-Giron, Democrat
"Reducing personal consumption is something that I would like to advocate." She would also advocate Congress mandating high fuel efficiency standards for auto makers.
"We certainly should be looking at alternative fuels as well. I think the federal government's role in that is to support research and development. We've been talking about the mission of Sandia National Laboratories here in the district, and I think we can diversify that mission to include developing alternative fuels.
"Lowering the state and federal fuel taxes could possibly be an option. You're talking about millions of dollars that could possibly be saved by consumers. I think it's more important for consumers to conserve on a daily basis."
Joe Carraro, Republican
"I wouldn't cut the gas tax."
Although as a state senator he has supported such a cut in New Mexico, he did that because the state profits when oil prices increase and can make up for the loss of funding for highway construction and repair. "The federal government doesn't have that luxury," he said.
"Expanding drilling and exploration in our country, I think that's the key." Carraro supports oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.
"Consumption used to be controlled by the price of gasoline except now it's not controlled because people are paying for gas with their credit card. We have to do something to encourage people to buy hybrid cars (tax incentives) and the government can offer better tax incentives to corporations to build vehicles that are going to more energy efficient.
Darren White, Republican
"You can't just talk about gas prices without talking about gas use. We consume 20 million barrels of oil a day, one in seven barrels of oil consumed in the world.
"If we're going to have the most impact when it comes to our addiction to foreign oil, we're going to have to address consumption.
"I would support research and exploration of alternative fuels, specifically plug-in hybrids and electric cars and clean nuclear fuel to power them."
White would support a gasoline-tax holiday, even though he doesn't believe it's a long-term solution.
"I understand what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck. Even the smallest amount of relief is welcomed, but it doesn't address the issue long term."
Comments
Add Comment