The issue of the upcoming campaign

The following article was posted on redstate.com by Congressman Wally Herger. It is entitled "It's time to end our nation's embargo on domestic energy". Republicans would be doing themselves a huge favor if they made this THE issue in the upcoming general election. If you're interested in this issue, go to Newt Gingrich's "America's Solutions" website where he has posted a petition, "Drill Here, Drill Now, and Save Money". Gingrich's goal is to have 3 million signatures by inaugaration day to demonstrate to the new President and Congress just how serious the American public is about becoming more energy self-sufficient by exploring our own natural energy resources.

"Speaker Pelosi and the House Democrats promised a commonsense solution to rising gas prices. A mere 18 months into Democratic control, gas has reached a painful $4 plus national average. But I certainly don’t want to give you the impression that the Congressional Democrats have stood idly by. Instead, they have been working on a plan that would make energy costs even higher.

We recently got a glimpse - albeit a brief one - of the Democrats' much heralded cap-and-trade global warming bill in the Senate. If there is any consensus in this debate it's that this bill is going to cost taxpayers trillions (you read that right) in higher energy costs.

What's frightening to me is that the Senate bill is the modest approach. A version recently introduced by Speaker Pelosi's hand-picked point person on energy and global warming, Rep. Ed Markey, is much more ambitious. House Republicans are demanding an open and thorough debate on this bill. If the Democrats' signature energy policy is estimated to raise gas prices and grow government by trillions, the American people deserve to hear about it.

Faced with growing outrage among the American people over today’s record prices, it was not surprising that the majority decided to shelve their costly climate change proposal indefinitely. What Democratic members haven’t shelved is their longstanding opposition to increasing American energy production. But a recent Rasmussen survey shows that 67% of the American people support the removal of our nation’s self-imposed embargo on domestic energy. I couldn’t agree more.

I stand with other House Republicans in supporting policies that would both lower gas prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. While there is clearly no magic solution that will solve our problems overnight, we can ease the gas crunch on Americans with safe, environmentally-responsible exploration of energy reserves in Alaska and deepwater areas. By increasing our own supply, we can make life easier for millions of hardworking American families. And only by taking this action immediately, will Congress begin to lay the foundation for lasting relief at the pumps."