Chuck Schumer is one of my senators from New York. He thinks that the government should use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to offer "relief" from high gas prices when necessary. In fact, he tried to tack on an amendment to the energy bill (which may or may not make very much sense, but I think I get it):

"To express the sense of the Senate regarding management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower the burden of gasoline prices on the economy of the United States and circumvent the efforts of OPEC to reap windfall profits."

Fortunately, this amendment was tabled before it actually made it into the bill.

In my opinion, it is to George Bush's credit that he is not going to open the SPR to manipulate prices, even if his main reason for doing so is because he thinks that we should drill the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge instead. (To which my nasty side says, "Go ahead. And see how much the American people thank you when you get at most 3 months of oil out of it.")

I think Schumer's on the wrong side of the issue here. I don't believe we should be tapping into the SPR just to give people a little relief from high prices. At best, it's going to make us happy for a couple of months, and then we're going to go right back to the $60+/barrel that we're seeing now. Instead, I think Schumer should be out front pushing for conservation legislation, like improved CAFE standards and maybe even a gasoline tax...(well, the latter certainly wouldn't make him popular.) I'm not sure if Schumer supports dipping into the SPR because he really believes it's the right thing to do, or because it has no chance of passing right now but makes his constituents think he's doing something. I think that at one time he was on the Energy and Natural Resources committee (his website is sort-of ambiguous about his current committee memberships), so he can't be completely ignorant of the issues (can he?).

I'm lucky to live in a state where I typically agree with how my senators vote. But now it's my chance to try to make an impact. I'm going to write a letter to Schumer to urge him to stop supporting legislation that would make it easier to tap into the SPR, but I'd like to get some of your input on the issue. Do you agree with me? If so, what other points should I raise in the letter? Or, if you disagree, why? What would be the benefit in opening the SPR in order to decrease prices?

FYI: Once I write the letter, I'll post it on Peak Oil NYC, but I'll put the link up here too so you can all go over and see it (and steal it to send to your senator too).

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