oil

The DSCC's new website targeting U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville), among others

Thursday it was television ads, mailers, websites, and press releases. A healthy majority of the types of media used in Kentucky's U.S. Senate race were in play on the gas price issue, as questions on energy continue to dominate the narrative of the campaigns of incumbent U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) and businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville).

The most visible manifestation on the day is the McConnell campaign's newest television spot, a thirty second attack on Lunsford that pulls out a variety of charges and lauds McConnell's plans for increased domestic oil production.

"Here's a shock: Kentucky's pro-tax papers support Bruce Lunsford's automatic gas tax increases," the ad's narrator announces to open the spot, as two newspaper editorials critical of an earlier McConnell ad are citied on screen.

America's energy problems have become a highlighted campaign issue over the past several weeks. When both presidential campaigns came to Ohio last week, Republican and Democrats alike held press conference calls to tussle over the energy issue.

One aspect that has been brought up to help solve the energy problem is cracking down on speculators, who may be artificially driving up the price of oil.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Lorain County) co-sponsored legislation this week designed to do just that.

Brown announced Thursday that he is a co-sponsor of the "Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008." This legislation would give the federal regulator of futures markets the resources to detect, prevent, and punish price manipulation and excessive speculation.

"We need to provide immediate relief to consumers struggling with high energy costs," Brown said in a statement. "Instead of sound bite solutions, we must act to lower gas prices now. We need to put Ohio families ahead of oil speculators. Going after excessive speculation would bring immediate relief to American consumers."

A majority of Americans disagree with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's statement that oil and coal are making this country sick, according to a poll released today by Rasmussen.

After attending the opening of the Ausra solar power manufacturing plant in Las Vegas on Monday, Reid gave an interview on the Fox Business channel about the urgency to move away from fossil fuels and toward sources of renewable energy.

While explaining about the "unseen costs" of traditional power generation, Reid said:

"Coal makes us sick. Oil makes us sick. It's global warming. It's ruining our country. It's ruining our world. We've got to stop using fossil fuels."

According to the Rasmussen poll, 52 percent of Americans surveyed disagree with Reid's feelings on coal making people sick, with only 21 percent supporting his statement. Americans feel similarly about oil making people sick, with 50% disagreeing with Reid and 31% agreeing.

U.S. Reps. Charlie Wilson (D-St. Clairsville) and Tim Ryan (D-Niles) held a teleconference yesterday to throw their support behind the "Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act."

The two Ohio Democrats are supporting a proposal introduced last week by House Natural Resources Committee chair Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.) that would require oil companies to drill on 68 million acres of leased but inactive federal land that has the potential to produce an additional 4.8 million barrels of oil per day. That would nearly double U.S. oil production and increase natural gas production by 75 percent, while decreasing U.S. dependency on foreign oil by one third.

The bill would force oil and gas companies to either produce or give up federal onshore and offshore leases by barring companies from obtaining additional leases until they demonstrate they are producing oil and gas or developing leases they already hold. Since 1976, coal companies have been required to show they are diligently developing leases. Oil and gas companies have not.

Grant Bosse's Congressional Campaign Today Released a Statement Rebuking Democrat Paul Hodes For Backing Controversial Energy Proposal

Rather than invest in clean alternatives, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers wants to increase our dependence on Canadian oil. Her recent trade mission to Alberta aimed to do just that.