Roy Blunt: “I hear talk about gas prices and the economy, the effect on the economy and our future. We need to work hard to be sure…”

“I hear talk about gas prices and the economy, the effect on the economy and our future. We need to work hard to be sure we are producing more American jobs. Frankly, I can't think of a better way to do that than to produce more American energy. We use about the same amount of energy in a good economy as we do in a weak economy. It is the place to go where we know the consumers are, whether it is the electric bill or the gasoline at the gas pump, and we ought to be doing all we can to produce those jobs. Certainly there are many factors that affect the price of oil, things such as the value of the dollar, supply and demand, and the global events that affect oil, such as the problems now in Libya and other oil-producing countries, or even the weather. I live in a State bounded by the Mississippi River, and the flooding down the Mississippi has had some impact on the north-south movement of refined products in the country. All those things have impact on gas prices. One thing that will come up this summer and that I have worked hard on and on which many of my colleagues have joined me is looking into what we can do to be sure our efforts to have clean air don't needlessly restrict the supply of gasoline. As we get into the summer months, too many cities have their own unique blends of fuel.…”