Do low gas prices give a short-term reprieve?

The price of gas peaked at $1.25 in 1996, the last time the United States felt a pinch on energy costs.

So when a Republican Congress passed legislation opening portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for oil exploration in 1996, President Clinton understandably could argue that new drilling was unnecessary. There was no energy crisis, he said, and after all, even if he signed the bill and allowed development of ANWR, its hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil wouldn't hit the market for a decade.

But the decade that followed brought current gas prices to $2.50 per gallon and higher, with a peak over this last summer of over $4 per gallon!

Oil companies from Cuba and China drill closer to our shores than American companies may. Yet Congress has offered no solutions. Instead, some members suggest suing OPEC for not drilling more oil, even as they obstinately refuse to allow American companies to do just that. This is obviously a source of frustration, but it should be seen as an opportunity - after all, the genius of democracy is that mistakes can be corrected.

Over the last decade, the primary reason the price of crude oil has tripled is the increasing industrialization of the world's two largest nations, China and India. Those two countries have witnessed their economies jump straight from the 18th century to the 21st. The increased demand for oil-based energy has driven up the price. The inexorable laws of supply and demand dictate that, with two billion more buyers of energy than existed a few decades ago, the only way the price can come down is to increase supply.

Sitting back and waiting for prices to reach $4 a gallon once again should not be an option. We have the oil, the natural gas and the technology to allow us to drill in an environmentally-sound way. What we do not yet have is permission from Congress to utilize these resources. Instead, Congress has spent most of its time debating energy policy without reaching agreement and at the same time trying to raise taxes on American oil companies while exempting foreign competitors.

Meanwhile, even though gas prices have declined recently, without addressing the bigger picture, we can expect to reach the $4 per gallon mark or higher in the future as our economy rebounds and gasoline demand increases. Recent national surveys show that three-fourths of the American people, including majorities of both major parties, want to drill for more oil. We have the support and the elections are over. Now it is time for the new administration and Congress to recognize the need to increase  petroleum and gasoline supplies as they begin work on crafting and implementing a new vision for the country's energy and environmental policy."

George Eskridge is the Idaho state representative for District 1B.