Max Baucus: “in the years when I first began to serve in Congress, America faced severe problems with supplies of oil. For years…”

“in the years when I first began to serve in Congress, America faced severe problems with supplies of oil. For years, long gas lines, frustration, and questions about the security of our oil supply drove the public debate. Thirty years have passed. And, frankly, things have not changed all that much. We still use gasoline and coal at staggering rates. And we are still concerned about the security of our oil supply. We do not have lines at gas stations. But last year, prices rose to levels unimaginable just a few years ago. Prices for gasoline, heating oil, electricity, and natural gas have soared in recent years, hitting working families hard. In the past few weeks, we have seen a terrorist attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. We have seen oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria. We have seen Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threaten that he would cut off our supply of oil from his country. And we have seen some question whether Iran's role as an oil supplier keeps other countries from properly addressing Iran's threat to nuclear proliferation. Energy provides one of America's greatest challenges for the 21st century. Our economy has been dependent on oil and coal for about 100 years. And since World War II, natural gas has become part of the equation. Will we continue this dependency for the next 100 years? The cost of energy will profoundly affect the future competitiveness of the American economy.…”