I was shaking hands at the Shawano County fair a couple of weekends ago, and the two topics that came up again and again were gas prices and Hurricane Katrina. I don't have much to add to the millions of words that have been written about each topic, but I found myself wondering about my old furnace and how it would do this winter when the temperature dropped a bit here in Green Bay yesterday. Natural gas prices have been climbing for several years, and the hurricane has pushed prices even higher for both natural gas and heating oil. Those of us in cold climates will face a double whammy this winter - higher prices at the gas pump and at the furnace.
It shouldn't take a hurricane to demonstrate that we need a national energy policy that goes beyond tax breaks for oil companies. The single best thing we could do for our economy, for our environment, and for our national security is to reduce our dependence on imported energy. This can't and won't happen overnight, but that's all the more reason to start now. I'll fight for a more sane energy policy in Congress, one that encourages conservation, clean generation, and alternative sources of energy. We need it here in Northeast Wisconsin - I've heard a lot about gas prices lately, and I know I'll hear about heating costs as the snow falls.