Charles W. Stenholm: “I appreciate very much his taking this time today to talk about the lack of a national energy policy. Perhaps the best…”

“I appreciate very much his taking this time today to talk about the lack of a national energy policy. Perhaps the best known price in America today is that of gasoline. Americans see it posted along the road a dozen or two times a day. They pull in to fill up every week to 10 days, if not more often. It is also a price that perhaps because of that visibility can generate a lot of heat, especially when it is going up, as it has this year. This is in fact a price that tells the complex story of global supply and demand, of technological change and of environmental consciousness, and of shifting consumer taste and social change. Despite the long-term trend, prices move up and down a great deal. These fluctuations can be caused, among other things, by political events, shift in supply and demand of fuel, weather, the level of inventories, disruptions in refinery operations, and the introduction of new environmental standards.”