Our goofy legislators at the gas station

Legislators self-serving on gas solutions
By DANA MILBANK Of The Washington Post


WASHINGTON — Gas prices have gone above $3 a gallon again, and that means it’s time for another round of congressional fi nger pointing.
“Since George Bush and Dick Cheney took over as president and vice president, gas prices have doubled!†charged Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., standing at an Exxon station on Capitol Hill where regular unleaded hit $3.10. “They are too cozy with the oil industry.â€
She then hopped in a waiting Chrysler LHS (18 mpg) — even though her Senate offi ce was only a block away.
Sen. Charles Schumer, DN.Y., used a Hyundai Elantra to take the one-block journey to and from the gas station news conference. He posed in front of the fuel prices and gave them a thumbs down. “Get tough on big oil!†he demanded of the Bush administration.
By comparison, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., was a model of conservation. She told a staffer idling in a Jetta to leave without her, then ducked into a sushi restaurant for lunch before making the journey back to work.
At about the same time, House Republicans met for their weekly caucus (topic A: gas). The House driveway was jammed with cars, many idling, including eight Chevy Suburbans (14 mpg).
America might be addicted to oil, as President Bush puts it. But America is in the denial phase of this addiction — as evidenced by the behavior of its lawmakers. They have proposed all kinds of solutions to high gas prices: taxes on oil companies, domestic oil drilling and releasing petroleum reserves. But they ignore the obvious: that Americans drive too much in too-big cars.
Senators were debating a war spending bill Wednesday, but the subject invariably turned to gas prices. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., engaged his deputy, Dick Durbin, Ill., in a riveting colloquy. “Is the senator aware that the L.A. Times headline reads today, ‘Bush’s Proposals Viewed as a Drop in the Bucket’?â€
“I’m aware of that,†Durbin replied.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., responded with an economics lesson. “Oil is worth what people pay for it,†he argued.
Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., sounded the alarm. “We’re one accident or one terrorist attack away from $100 a barrel oil!â€
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, RAlaska, made a plea for conservation. “We have to move quickly to increase our fuel effi ciency,†she urged.
But not too quickly. After lunchtime votes, senators emerged from the Capitol for the drive across the street to their offi ces.
Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., hopped in a GMC Yukon (14 mpg). Sen. Jim DeMint, RS.C., climbed aboard a Nissan Pathfi nder (15). Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., stepped into an eight-cylinder Ford Explorer (14). Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., disappeared into a Lincoln Town Car (17). Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., met up with an idling Chrysler minivan (18).
Next came Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., greeted by a Ford Explorer XLT. On the Senate fl oor Tuesday, Menendez had complained that Bush “remains opposed to higher fuel-effi ciency standards.â€
Also waiting: three Surburbans, a Nissan V8 Armada, two Cadillacs and a Lexus. The greenest senator was Richard Lugar, R-Ind., who was picked up by his hybrid Toyota Prius (60 mpg), at quadruple the fuel effi ciency of his Indiana counterpart Evan Bayh, D, who was met by a Dodge Durango V8 (14).
If the politics of gasoline favor Democrats at the moment, the insincerity is universal. A surreptitious look at the cars in the senators-only spots inside and outside the Senate offi ce buildings found an Escort and a Sentra, but far more Jaguars, Cadillacs and Lexuses and a fl eet of SUVs made by Ford, Honda and BMW.
A sampling of senators’ and staff cars parked along Delaware Avenue NE found that those displaying Democratic campaign bumper stickers had a somewhat higher average fuel economy (23 mpg) than those displaying GOP stickers (18 mpg).