An energy crisis of our own making

by Senator Susan Collins

MAINE – Record gasoline prices, heating oil so high that families cannot afford to heat their homes, and the highest natural gas prices in the world point to one inescapable conclusion: America is suffering an energy crisis. The unfortunate truth is that this crisis was not only predictable but also largely preventable.

Five years ago this week, I predicted that gasoline prices would rise to more than $3 per gallon within a decade unless Congress took serious action to address our energy needs. In a report we released on April 26, 2001, Senator Chuck Schumer and I described a coming energy storm that would cause prices to triple within a decade and cost the average American family $2,000 more per year to meet their energy needs.

The cause of this crisis? As noted in our report, two opposing trends were on a collision course: surging demand for all forms of energy combined with stagnating global energy supplies. The resulting market would have little flexibility to respond to disruptions in supply and leave us vulnerable to painful explosions in energy prices.

No Mainer who recently filled their gas tank, no Maine family that struggled to heat their home this winter, and no Maine business struggling to meet soaring energy expenses while still making payroll needs to be told that the collision has happened, and the crisis is now. Our diminished energy infrastructure in the Gulf Coast due to Hurricane Katrina, the tensions in the Middle East and other countries that supply oil to us, and the increasing demand as China has dramatically increased its use of oil and as the summer driving season approaches are all factors contributing to record prices.

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