Victor Fazio: “everybody knows that gas prices are rising, but if you think you have got trouble, you ought to look at what the people…”

“everybody knows that gas prices are rising, but if you think you have got trouble, you ought to look at what the people in California are facing: in Sacramento, $1.54 a gallon; in San Jose, $1.79; in Santa Barbara, $2.19 a gallon. That is right. Here in the District of Columbia, it is only $1.39 on average; nationally, $1.27. Clearly, we have a bigger problem in our very isolated gasoline market on the west coast. We have 10 percent of our refineries down and out of commission. We have the added costs of newly reformulated gasoline. Sure, something needs to be done, and we can help by repealing the 4.3 cents gas tax increase, but what are we going to do to guarantee that that money actually finds its way into the pockets of consumers? That is $30 billion the consumers need back. Our Republican friends have shown no inclination or ability to make that happen. They simply are going to be feathering the nests of the major oil companies in this country.”