The largest driver of fuel costs is ethanol. Ethanol costs more to produce than it is sold at the pump for. It damages engines. We must stop using food items for fuel. It does not save the planet and it is not green because they use OIL FUELS TO GROW IT. The Strategic Reserve is to operate our military, let's not let Barak Obama's EPA rewrite history.

I would be weary of tapping the oil reserve, it did not have a significant impact any of the times it was tapped into. Until we can be allowed to drill in the areas in the middle of our country and do some off shore drilling off the east coast we will be at the mercy of foreign oil supplies. Another thought is why do we even export oil and yet import at such a higher cost. That doesn't make any sense. We should keep what oil we do have in our own country and that itself will have long term effects that will drive our domestic cost of oil, gas what have you lower. Drilling oil and making domestic use of the oil that is under North Dakota and Montana will give this country the economic resurgence that it needs. Followed by buying more Made in the USA product will also help. Everything we have practically is made in China.

The extent to which this president and his party will go to claim and increase their power is chilling.

WHY CAN'T THE FREE MARKET BE LEFT ALONE BY THE FEDS!!!! Let the market work and quit trying to manipulate the market of any commodity. The only way to control prices is by letting the consumers decide what they want and what they will pay for it.

I think we need more refineries in areas that are not prone to hurricanes. I also think we need to take some of the red tape off those building a new one with safety being paramount but speed in getting up and running is helped by the government not a hinderence to those wishing to spend billions in making a state of the art refinery.

Don't tap the strategic oil reserves. The key word being strategic. Two weeks ago the instapoll concerned the Iranian nuclear threat. If war is started with the Iranians, tapping the oil reserves to quell gas prices will prove a foolish move. If war is declared in the Middle East region, oil prices will soar and the Strait of Hormuz maybe blockaded. Having the oil reserves will allow the military to operate the war machine and gain the upper hand without worrying about securing fuel. This will permit quick action and potentially reduce American casualties. I'm against starting any new wars however I understand the need for readiness to defend ourselves and our allies.

I think tapping the oil reserve would only be beneficial if it were immediately backed up with other strategies to "wean" us off foreign oil. Until the president and congress get serious about pursuing this so-called "goal" that dates back to the 70s... we consumers are going to continue suffering at the whims of the speculators, politicians, and any foreign oil supplier who chooses to reduce the amount of oil available to us.

The reserve oil supplies should be used for emergency conditions only. What we should have done was build the keystone pipeline from Canada and at the same time drill for shale oil in the mid west. We probably have 100 years supply of shale oil in the Midwestern states if we were allowed to drill for it. The same applies to drilling off the coast of Virginia. We do not have to be dependent upon the middle east for oil nor should we allow it to become a way of life.

Great Response John Parker, Congress is no longer "For The People", if they were they would have the same health care system and retirement plan we have. I wish we could wipe the slate clean. Start over.... Each person (who pays taxes) fills out a form and decides what percentage of their tax goes to what area. As for gas, no we don't need more handouts to temporarily offset the price of gas, get used to it, the price of gas is high and will only go higher, we need alternative forms of energy and higher mileage vehicles.

I would much prefer Congress get involved in getting rid of the day traders and speculators that presently control the commodity markets. Let the markets work as they should---hedge's by the involved parties that actually produce, sell and buy the commodity. Not a vehicle for people or institution that have never taken delivery of a commodity in their life.

I support it as a short term fix, but not until after the election...until them, let the gas prices remain high so the current President can not claim a victory in reducing the prices. Addditionally, we need to allow drilling to replace any reserves used as soon as possible, pluss quit paying for alternative fuels in the Navy at astronomical prices versus basic oil!

I think this would just be a political move for Obama so he could claim to be helping the middle class. After the election when the Strategic Petroleum Reserve needs to be replenished the price would go up again. The best thing to get the price of gas down is to build the pipeline and open oil exploration of the coasts.

We need to use our resources,instead of selling our oil to China! Stop with these band aid fixes during an election year!!!

Since I don't trust any decision this President makes, I would have to ask might he be trying to deplete our emergency fuel storage as part of his long-term plan to hurt America. In that case, I vote NO.

This is an entirely political posturing. Obama is in "hot water" with the voters and he knows that, so he is trying to make up for it by a last-minute exercise. This will not work for him. He will be moving to a different address in January 2013.

Work on that pipeline and start to recover the vast amount of oil in Montana, North and South Dakota.

It's been done before and it's not solving anything. We need a permanent solution to keep prices reasonable like using our own oil resources off-shore; shale fields; canadian pipeline; Alaskan pipeline. It's like you're bleeding profusely and you stick a bandage on the wound; it's time for our elected officials to stop putting off what they know needs to be done before the price of bandages goes up. How can you set a household budget when prices are constantly on a rollercoaster ride?

Don't tap the SPR. There is no sense in giving the Dems an excuse to show how decisive the President is when he clearly is not, except for when there is a political advantage such as the recent change in immigration policy. Americans must hang on for a few more months, cutting back on their own fuel usage. That is the greatest empowerment we have at present to drive down prices. We can show solidarity by car pooling twice a month or just not driving a couple of times a month. Obama is clearly in a panic mode situation and let's keep him there until November. Then it will be time to nail down the White House furniture. OPEC needs to see how Americans can pull together just as in 9/11. Another example would be to establish a National Pace Truck program, giving tax incentives to trucking companies that drive at optimal speeds (e. g. 60 mph) for fuel economy instead of the blistering speed observed on I-95. That would be a win-win situation if a policy could be enacted.

We do not need an artifica drop in fuel cost rather a free market access to fossil fuels includeing coal and petroleum with less regulation.

Without these reserves, we're vulnerable to attack, and only the more reason that they should be left alone or even increased.. We need to produce our own oil too. We're so worried about an oil spill, but frankly, I'd rather risk an oil spill from offshore drilling than hand money over to countries for foreign oil that they may use to purchase or develop nuclear weapons. Offshore drilling of Virginia's coast should never have been banned. A bill should exist, if not already proposed, to prohibit the use of these reserves unless a catastrophic event occurs, requiring the use of these oil reserves. To release these oil reserves strictly as a political stunt to lower the price of oil prior to an election without adequate justification should be outlawed.

The price of oil is not a supply and demand issue in today's market. The cost of gasoline at the pump comes from over speculation in the future's market. The smallest excuse of a potentially minor disruption sends the specualted cost of a barrel of oil over $100 a barrel before there is any disruption of any kind. Releasing oil from the strategic reserve will have no impact on the cost of oil, and would be such a small quantity of oil in comparison to the world market that the cost a barrel may only drop by pennies at best. Someone in Washington should break out a caluculator and a copy of the Wall Street Journal and get a clue.

It is not in the better interests of our country to tap into strategic anything temporary for minor momentary relief and political gain. The stability of our country's economics and defense capabilities are far more important than the partisan politics and the name of the person in the White House.

With constant threats by Iran to close down the Straits of Hormuz, I think that the Stategic Oil Reserves should be left untouched and not be used for political gain. As a United States Merhant Mariner I am still offended by the last drawdown where the DOE did everything that it could to exclude American vessels from moving the oil, thumbing their noses at the Jones Act.

I do support this for several reasons. We have seen the republicans in congress resist middle class tax relief in order to protect what has proven to be very unwise and harmful tax policy of millionaires and billionaires. Opposing tapping the reserve is a blatant in your face proclamation that your objective is to further destroy the middle class when it doesn't have to be that way. A smart national policy is to use the reserve to not only protect the nation in terms of supply, but it can effectively be used to protect stability in markets. We have seen how the republicans have brought the nation to its knees in reckless market manipulations before, refusing to implement critical safeguards or acting recklessly to remove them. The public couldn't even persuade Dick Cheney to release notes from those secret energy policy meetings. What happened? Well we then got slammed with 4 dollars gas and a trillion dollar unnecessary war. So the third reason to tap the reserve is to protect consumers from the reckless conservative government in Israel that will ignore the will of its people and cause utter chaos by igniting a nasty war with Iran that will quickly spread. Make no mistake, Israel is barely contained as it is and the world needs to keep up the pressure to keep them from creating a disaster. Now that's not to say that everyone else in the region isn't a problem, they are, but the Israeli government cannot be allowed to start a war that isn't necessary. Tapping the reserve also helps to keep the crushing sanctions against Iran in place. Finally, given the disasterous economic failure brought to us by the Bush administration and the continuing obstruction of this congress that inhibits recovery, there is no reason to push the middle class over the edge this winter which is projected to be very cold in the highly populated east and at Christmas time. Just how cruel can the republicans get? Since they will not cooperate to deal with sequestration there is little choice but to ensure some relief through energy price stability. We have made enormous progress in energy in just three years under Obama policy. We are far beyond what we got from the Bush administration in eight years. The industry is doing well, and they do not need billions of dollars in annual subsidies they have testified before congress they do not even need. It is bizarre that the republicans refuse to end those payments. I wish that congressman Forbes, in his twelve years in congress had chosen to end those subsidies, had chosen not to oppose the interests of the middle class, had not opposed the middle class tax cut, had not acted to shove the nation into default after having pushed policy that created 10 TRILLION in debt, had not pushed us into the Iraq war with no proposal to pay for it, had not forced the Navy to fund equipment they did not want, had not opposed critical financial industry regulations, had not voted to increase the deficit by over 100 billion dollars in opposition to health care cost cutting reforms and had not sanctioned the Ryan budget to force medicare recipients to pay up to 6500 dollars a year more for care. There is a lot of discussion about these issues lately. But don't we have to ask, are we really better off than we were when congressman Forbes went to congressman 12 years ago, to a balanced budget? Tapping the reserve is a sensible all things considered measure that should be supported. I hope the congressman will express his support and actually do something in support of the middle class he has sadly abandoned in very harmful national ways.

The price of crude oil is under $100 and injecting strategic oil reserves will not have a great affect at the pump. I believe that resent events at the refining stage are the cause of higher prices at the pump. The same thing happens every time a hurricane nears the Gulf Coast, speculator get scared driving the price up at the pump.

I agree wtih others that our country shoud be increasing access to our own energy sources instead of using the reserves. Also I think that gas already in the tanks at gas stations should be sold at the price that prevailed when those tanks were filled instead of going up at the whim of the price setters.

First pass the pipeline bill and the prices will drop well before the first drop of oil even starts to run thru it. We then cut ethanol requirement and get serious about energy in this country. obama is in this to take down this country and his own gain.

Tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to attempt to temporarily alleviate gas prices at the pump should not be done. The reserves should be used in case of a National Emergency, not to control prices that are artificially inflated due to minor changes in gasoline supplies. There is plenty of crude supply but not enough refineries to produce the actual product or enough built to supply the increases the economy demands or might in an actual recovery. We are currently in a slow down with demands in a stand still yet prices due to speculators, over the last few years prices have steadily increased yet stayed the same even if the demand decreased. This all may have to do with an increase in conservation and alternative energy use, thereby leaving high prices intact to make up for the loss in revenue. It makes sense. How can billions of dollars be taken in profit by the OPEC nations and oil companies yet demand has decreased or flattened. They have to make a profit but at who's and what cost?

No tapping in. Higher prices are not an emergency. I am very tired of waiting for us to drill now and tap into our own resources. I would much rather keep our money here in the U.S. I am for putting excessive pressure on our leadership to be independent from foreign oil. We have the tools knowledge and equipment. Lets get busy NOW.

The truth is gas price are high because we are exporting record amounts everyday. Tapping the oil reserves would do nothing to reduce prices at the pump. We need to build more refineries first. Then MAYBE the pump prices will come down. We should be pushing the National Gas Transportation bill. That will provide the fastest results.

We need more drilling especially in Alaska . If we allow more drilling we can also control the price of fuel keeping it at $ 2.50 a gal. the oil companies would be required to maintain the needs of The United States first then sell off the remaining oil on the world market . We also need to change the requirements for what is allowed to be used as fuel , The requirement that fuel cannot be entirely man made and must be a natural resource is totally outdated by today's needs . This would encourage the research in to alternative fuels and as the needs of The United States drops for oil the oil companies would have more oil to sell on the world market .

I am in agreement with tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as long as it is not located on a Native American Reservation. And, that we don't use all of the reserves. :-)

No do not release any oil from the reserve. I think this is a political move by a desperate man . Why now?. If Nobama cared about this country he would have relaesed these reserves when gas was $4-$5 per gallon.

While this is a notable attempt, what would 80 days worth of oil really amount to. When it ran out we would be back at square one...higher gas prices minus 696 million barrels of oil at the mercy of foreigners once again. Why not instead support the Keystone pipeline from Canada to Mexico?

We have a lot of resources here that are not used to their fullest.....we need to become self-sufficient....and yes, tap the reserve lightly for now.

With job losses abound...why not build a dozen refineries and piplines across America. We have Nat gas and oil, go get it and process our own. This may lower prices and stop the lies about high prices whenever there is "unrest in the Middle East". While were at it why don't we mandate that the oil companies add one or two WATER transfer lines at the same time to bring run off water that goes into the sea back to areas that have low or no water so that the next issue we are to blog about is food prices. Again, more work right here in the USA.

Yes, I think we should tap into our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help our economy. This would create jobs and generate revenue. Besides, if we are truthfully looking at other sources of energy a move like this will not affect our future.

Many of the repsonses to this weeks question seem to me shallow. I would hope congressman Forbes would give this issue much deeper thought. The rising prices unnecessary harm a fragile recovery. We need action and we have certainly not seen this is the most dysfunctional congress on record. Why wouldn't congressman Forbes want to act to tame the price at such a fragile moment in the recovery? Given that congressman Forbes in his repeated advocacy and vote for the Ryan budget that sandbags seniors with thousands of dollars in new health insurance costs while giving millionaires and billionaires huge new tax cuts I can't understand how he could oppose acting for both the private sector and the middle class yet again!

There is a revealing lack of public awareness in this weeks blog. A far more than usual number of comments hang onto very old talking points that are no longer relevant today. Many people are totally unaware of dramatic failures of the Bush administration when it came to national energy strategy. The fact is that huge progress in energy has been made in the last three years. America is well on its way to being energy independent within 10 years. The constituency really needs to read up on the facts. I hope this constituency is fully aware of the scope of obstructionism that has inhibited national progress on energy coming from the republican party. The constituency was ill served by very misleading statements by congressman Forbes on this blog concerning the Keystone pipeline. Congressman Forbes has repeatedly refused to acknowledge that the republican legislature by a unamious vote opposed the route of that pipeline through critical aquifers and that portions of the pipeline already built had sprung 12 leaks in less than a year. Further, the Canadians agreed to pursue alternate routes, the number of jobs the line would create were overstated by thousands and they refuse to admit this is extremely dirty oil expensive to refine and that most of it would be exported. Yes, exported!!! Few people realize America, under Obama, has been exporting for profit oil. It is just another of a long long list of intellectual dishonesty coming from congressman Forbes.

To Larry Saffioti : I totally disagree with your conclusions. It is this kind of cynical thinking that has been harming the nation ever since right wing talk radio decide to brainwash the country. Your remarks do not acknowledge the huge advances in the industry and the likely outcome of energy independence in only 10 years. We do not need to poison people with reckless disregard for a fragile environment that all of us benefit from. It is not all about greed sir. It is about quality of life and to suggest that not acting to ensure stability in energy markets is not strategic promotes casino like thinking that brought the nation to its knees. I would urge you to get up to date on what has been transpiring in the energy industry in the past three years. This nation is well positioned to move us forward and the only thing that will set us back is more old school thinking. This time, the Democrats are not going to allow the republican frauds on energy to destroy the nation.

Whether or not the reserves are released is of little consequence. It would provide, at best, minimal temporary relief from increasing fuel costs. There are valid arguments to made on both sides of the issue. The market, although susceptible to short-term manipulation, tends to correct itself. As oil and gas extracted from the "Eagle Ford" and "Bakken" shale plays comes to market, prices will fall. Drawing a limited amount of oil from the SPR to provide some relief now, and replacing it when prices have been driven lower by increased supply, does make some sense. Allowing the markets to function by decreasing demand during periods of high prices also makes sense. Choose a side if you like - it is inconsequential. Try something new and different congressman - find yourself on the right side of an issue of consequence.

As we weigh the wisdom of this decision there is concern congressman Forbes that you may not fully evaluate all the components that comprise a decision like this. I base this on your cosponsorship of H R 3 that attempts to redefine the meaning of rape. It is what it is congressman, questionable judgment.

We should not take from the reserve. The ethenol use should be cut, due to cost. Should maintain excess refinery capacity to cover for loss of 1-2 plants. Develop and use all of our resources, including coal & natural gas. Also reduce the number different blends of gasoline produced across the country.

Most of the people answering this question are completely out of touch. No need to tap the reserve. Plenty of oil & gas. Plus you need to get used to $4 gas. Oil is much more expensive to extract that it used to be. Fracking is wonderful, but it is not cheap to do. Gas in Europe is $7 per liter (which is less than a gallon). They have wonderful public transportation, we don't. We drive much more & deserve to pay more than we do for gas now. We need to raise the tax on gasoline to provide money for infrastructure repair to roads, bridges & highways. The days of cheap gasoline are gone people. Our best hope is to develop NATURAL GAS as the fuel for our vehicles. We have a 200 year supply, it is cleaner than gas & the engines are more efficient. A real energy policy would be a start.

BY the way---VOTE AGAINST RANDY FORBES & ERIC CANTOR

I think that offshore drilling be re-instated. I also think the Alaskan Pipeline should be completed. That way, we can supply our own oil and put people back to work at the same time. But, of course, I know that that is the last think Obama would do. No, his idea is for votes. Just like giving amnesty to illegal aliens is all for the vote. That's why he calls himself African American. To get their votes. He's sneaky!

Mr. Congressman: How about this, let us findout why so many of the oil companies are shutting down refineries and claiming they can't build new ones because of the EPA. Those they a shutting down, cuts the production of gasoline, which many in the oil industry claim is the reason for the increase price of gasoline. Seems kind of funny to me that a refinery that is granfathered in would be extremly valuable, so why close the doors. Maybe the old saying procuce less and make more fits in this case. Maybe Randy you should check to see why the closed the refinery in your own backyard (Seaford, Va) refinery. Oh and by the way to say we can't build a refinery in the U.S because of the EPA is a bigger joke, Valero Oil a Mexican Company was able to. Are you going to tell me ExxonMoble can't, sounds somewhat funny to me!

Our economy is so fragile right now. Please do something. Why are they shutting down refineries everywhere? Doesn't make sense to me... http://howtosavemoneyonenergybills.com