Angie Craig: “my attention was drawn this morning to an article in the Washington Times where our Secretary of Energy, Bill…”

“my attention was drawn this morning to an article in the Washington Times where our Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson, defends energy policy by saying something that I found fascinating, to the point of absurdity. He says, ``We are not in an energy crisis.'' I am not quite sure how Mr. Richardson defines ``crisis,'' but I do know Mr. Richardson has recognized, at least for 12 months, a problem. Am I to understand that the reason for the absence of an energy policy in the Clinton administration is that we recognize a problem, but we are not going to do anything about it until it becomes a crisis? Home heating oil last year, in the Northeast, began at 80 cents to 90 cents a gallon. It went to nearly $2 before that season was over. It was contracted this summer at $1.19, and it is now selling at $1.40. I call that a crisis if I am low income and I want a warm home this winter. I call it a crisis if I want to travel cross-country and I can't afford to fill my gas tank. I call it a crisis if I am a trucker and I can't up my contracts to absorb my fuel or energy costs and I must turn my truck back in, as thousands are now doing--turning their trucks back in on the lease programs under which they acquired them when they planned to move the commerce of America across this country.”