On the recordMay 4, 2011
The average for a gallon of gas in Ohio is over $4 a gallon. In eastern and southeast Ohio, this is particularly hard on families who live in rural areas. Farmers, ranchers, seniors, working families who have limited means of transportation--these high gas prices are having a negative impact on everyone. The higher gas prices go, the more of an impact it has on our economy and on our chances for a real economic recovery. Small business owners are watching money they could otherwise invest in their businesses go to paying for fuel, and working families are anxiously redoing their budgets to account for higher fuel costs and looking for ways to cut back. We're blessed with an abundance of natural resources in Ohio. We're one of the highest coal-producing areas, and with the Marcellus shale right next door in West Virginia, we're poised to make an enormous contribution to making America self-sufficient in energy. We need an energy strategy that will help us become energy self-sufficient so we stop relying on other countries to meet our energy needs. Now is the time to levy a ``permatorium'' on developing American energy resources. Let's open up our American resources and put our country on the path to ensuring our energy security, instead of continuing to rely on foreign sources for energy. ____________________
