Harris touts plan for gas price cut

By KRISTYN ECOCHARD Staff Writer

http://stardem.com/articles/2008/06/24/news/37688.txt

Published: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 7:30 AM CDT

@Intro.16.CentOld:Says federal, state gas taxes should not be collected this summer

EASTON Andy Harris, the Republican candidate for Maryland's Congressional First District, has announced his plan to help lower record-high gas prices.

"We've got to deal with energy issues," Harris told The Star Democrat. "It's on voters' minds for good reason."

Harris' recommendation is a five-part plan he calls his "prescription for pain at the pump." He is calling on leaders to temporarily suspend the 42 cents in federal and state gas taxes through Labor Day, to temporarily cut the number of different gasoline blends from 40 to four, to allow drilling in Alaska and on the continental shelf, to fast-track permitting for refinery expansions and to provide incentives for new energy technologies.

"And if Congress doesn't act, there should be action in January," he said.

Harris, a state senator, said that if leaders in Annapolis were willing to take money from the transportation fund when there was a budget shortfall, then they should be willing now to take money from the general fund to put into transportation so the public can get some relief with the gas taxes.

"If we have to, we should suspend regulations for blending for however long it takes to increase efficiency," he said.

Those immediate actions are the first part of a progressive plan that also seeks to increase energy independence in a more permanent way by increasing domestic production of oil and natural gas and advancing new energy technologies.

"But in the short term the economy depends on oil and gas and we have to control prices," he said.

Harris said being less dependent on imports would send a message to the commodities market and would help to bring down the cost of oil.

Business leaders know this needs to be solved and the fear is the current Congress won't take action, he said. The people of the First District depend on transportation it's characterized by the need to travel long distances between places and their congressman should be working to bring them relief.

"We haven't even begun to see the domino effect yet," Harris said. "But if we send a signal, speculation will end and the price of oil will fall."

Ending tax breaks for domestic oil companies "will do nothing to bring down prices," he said, and the time has come to say that we can drill safely in environmentally sensitive areas.

"We need to encourage our companies to use their profits to explore and develop new energy technologies," Harris said.

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