Lungren stated that oil is currently, and will remain, a necessity in our nation for years to come, and “reducing the demand for oil is an important long-term goal that will reduce energy costs and benefit the environment.” Along with supporting offshore drilling, Lungren proposes bringing back “onshore” drilling, as well as bringing “new refineries online” and supporting a “gas tax holiday,” all of which Lungren proposes could reduce gas prices as much as two dollars per gallon. As for vehicle renewable energy, Lungren proposed providing monetary incentives to car companies for engineering the most efficient hybrid vehicle and gave as an example “the first company to create a car that gets 100 miles per gallon.” “I’m tired of giving these companies all this money and guessing on which one is going to work,” Lungren stated. Look for an exclusive TSPN interview with Lungren from his recent presentation at IoneCity Hall. The interview will play tomorrow on our noon news.
Wednesday, 02 July 2008 00:28
Lungren Holds Town Hall Meeting on Offshore Drilling
Congressman Dan Lungren
held a Town Hall meeting in Ione Monday night where he spoke about gas prices
and offshore drilling. With gas prices expected to go over five
dollars a gallon or more, the questions facing most Americans is how to obtain
more oil and why aren’t we spending more money on renewable energy
research? President Bush and Republican
presidential nominee John McCain are pushing to lift the 26-year ban on
offshore drilling, and have received recent criticism from Governor
Schwarzenegger and environmentalists. Many experts agree that offshore drilling
will not immediately bring gas prices down and may effect the environment. At a
recent global warming conference, Schwarzenegger stated that “anyone who tells you (that offshore drilling) would bring down gas
prices any time soon is blowing smoke." Lungren supports
lifting the ban on offshore drilling, stating that due to upgraded technologies,
the risks of polluting the environment are greatly reduced. When asked about looking at renewable sources
of energy, Lungren emphasized the importance of looking at “all the
possibilities,” including wind and solar power, biofuels, and more efficient
hybrid vehicles, as well as searching for more oil sources in the U.S..
