Political Quotes

“I want to take a few minutes to discuss high oil and gasoline prices. I think when we get home to our respective States this next week, we are going to find that many of the people we represent are understandably concerned about the rising price of gasoline at the pump. They have good reason to be concerned. Senator Murkowski and I hosted a Senate-wide briefing on Tuesday afternoon with three top oil industry analysts. We had Dr. Richard Newell, the head of the Energy Information Administration; Mr. Bob McNally, who was part of the Bush administration's White House team on energy markets; Mr. Frank Verastro, who is the head of the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They gave us their insights and explanations as to what is causing the rise in the price of gasoline at the pump. Let me go through four charts to try to summarize what they told us at that briefing. I think it is very useful information for my colleagues, and anybody else who is interested in the subject. This first chart is labeled ``Gasoline Prices Reflect the Cost of Crude Oil.'' A fundamental truth, which they all subscribe to, is that the primary driver of the price of gasoline at the pump is in fact the price of crude oil on world markets. This chart demonstrates that. It shows the price trends since 2005 for gasoline; that is the yellow line on the chart. It shows the price of crude oil; that is the green line.…”