John Kline: High prices: We've got to do something

Like most Americans, Minnesotans have had enough. They've become increasingly frustrated with the skyrocketing costs of everyday items such as food, household products and gasoline.

Just 16 months ago, Nancy Pelosi accepted the gavel from John Boehner at a historic moment in our nation. She and the new majority in the U.S. House of Representatives were ushered into leadership bolstered by a repeated promise for change that included a "common-sense plan" to lower gas prices.

At the time, Speaker Pelosi and the new leadership had within their grasp an opportunity to bring members from both sides of the aisle together so Congress could pass meaningful, bipartisan legislation on behalf of all Americans.

Rather than seize the opportunity, the majority leadership squandered it, and you are paying the consequences for their broken promises by the gallon every time you pull up to the pump. In January 2007, the average cost of gas in Minnesota was $2.14 per gallon -- already too high. Sixteen months later, Congress has seen no "common-sense plan," and the average price of gas in the Twin Cities earlier this week was $3.64 per gallon. Meanwhile, the only solution offered by the majority leadership was House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell's plan for a 50-cent tax hike on every gallon.

How high do gas prices need to soar before the majority leadership presents its long-overdue "common-sense plan"? There are 535 members of Congress, many of whom have ideas and solutions worth considering to curb energy costs.

There should be debate on the House floor to find ways to reduce our dependence on Middle East oil and develop long-term energy alternatives.

Some say America has an addiction to oil. What is abundantly clear is our addiction to foreign oil, which is not only an economic issue but also a national-security concern. Congress should examine ways to increase domestic production, explore long-term energy solutions and advance a real energy plan that increases American supplies in all forms:

•Congress should consider opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to environmentally safe production and increasing offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Clearly, drilling for oil in Alaska or in the Gulf of Mexico is not a short-term solution, but if we continue down this course of inaction, we may still be discussing plans for rising energy costs when gas reaches, say, $8 per gallon. The Chinese are drilling for oil on the Outer Shelf because it is off the coast of Cuba. Yet, lawmakers -- Republicans and Democrats -- in Florida and California are standing in our way, blocking any efforts for the United States to drill on the shelf some 100 to 230 miles off our coasts.

•We should build new oil refineries. While production at our existing refineries continues to rise, we have seen no new refinery construction in 30 years.

•Clean-coal technology is another exciting energy resource that we must continue to explore; we have the domestic coal reserves to power our economy for generations.

•Renewable energies like wind and solar also should be part of the equation, along with nuclear energy, which is the top source of emission-free electricity.

Years of inaction have proven too costly, and Americans are paying the price. The time for working together and debating sensible solutions is long overdue.

John Kline, R-Minn., is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.