Local lawmakers believe northcentral Pennsylvania is well
positioned to meet future demands for alternative forms of energy
in the wake of rising oil and gas prices.

While the region is setting records for drilling new wells,
officials believe the area’s wealth of agriculture and forest land
will help invigorate the local economy as the demand for ethanol
and other bio-fuels increases.

As it stands, residents struggling to make a living have been
forced to pay almost $3 a gallon for gas in an area known worldwide
for its crude oil.

“I’m disgusted by it,” state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway,
said. “The average guy is being squeezed every single day and it’s
become almost impossible to make ends meet. We need to quit the
rhetoric and pandering and get to the real solutions out
there.”

Results that bring about real relief are likely a few years
away, however, despite proposals at both the federal and state
levels to ease rising prices at the pump.

This week alone, President Bush ordered the Environmental
Protection Agency to temporarily suspend regional clean fuel
regulations in an effort to ease the price for consumers.
Meanwhile, in Harrisburg, Gov. Ed Rendell was calling for the
federal government to impose a windfall profits tax on oil
companies in an effort to curb profiteering.

“In the short term, I think we can expect the president’s recent
pronouncements to effect some modest change in the price of
gasoline for the better,” U.S. Rep. John Peterson’s, R-Pa.,
Communications Director Chris Tucker said. “But, by the president’s
own admission, the temporary easing of seasonal reformulation
requirements and environmental attainment standards does not put
additional supply into the pipeline – which is what we desperately
need.”

That is where alternative fuels come in.

According to state Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, her office has
been involved with a seven-member group comprised of individuals
from the Farm Bureau and county commissioners to do a study if it’s
feasible to bring an ethanol plant to her district.

“While it’s advantageous to look at alternative energy forms, at
the same time, we must continue drilling for natural gas and oil
that we have in our region,” Rapp said. “We are all facing the same
issue and need to be contentious of the gas prices and looking for
ways to solve the problem.”

Rapp said the increase in gas prices is reminiscent of the
1970s, when there was a shortage of gas and lines at the pump.

State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, said he’s heard a lot
about the issue from his constituents, adding “it’s a national
problem, not just a Pennsylvania problem.”

“It really shows exactly how dependent we are on foreign oil and
why it’s so important we explore domestic oil exploration,” Causer
said. “You are seeing it in the amount of drilling going on in
McKean County, which is certainly good for our economy.

“Down the road, hopefully we’ll see an ethanol plant in our
region,” Causer said, adding there is developing technology that
uses wood products to make the alternative fuel. “We stand in good
position to be involved in that with all our wood products
industries. There are possibilities there.”

One state lawmaker has already proposed suspending the state’s
gas tax until Oct. 31.

State Sen. Sean Logan, D-Allegheny, and a member of the Senate
Appropriations Committee, said he wants to reduce the cost of
gasoline by 31.2 cents a gallon.

“Drivers are being hit hard in their wallets as gas prices
continue to climb almost daily,” Logan said. “People can barely
afford to travel to work and then end up spending a large portion
of their paycheck on gas.”

Logan said in order to ensure compliance, the legislation would
enable the state attorney general’s office to investigate
complaints by consumers.

In response in Logan’s proposal, Scarnati said “what roads and
bridges in our area aren’t going to be repaired when that happens.
No infrastructure needs more upgrading than the 25th District. I
would like to know who is going to be clipped and we know it won’t
be in Philadelphia or Allegheny County.”

The senator also said Rendell’s plan “doesn’t solve the disease,
it just attacks the symptoms.”

“We need sound energy policies,” Scarnati said. “Pennsylvania
can be at the forefront of new ideas. While alternative forms of
fuel don’t solve the problems of today, we certainly have to begin
somewhere.”

Tucker said the price will only be moderated once we gain access
to additional supply.

“In the case of the oil industry, an increase in price tends to
lead directly to an increase in profit,” Tucker said. “As it is,
though, we have a national energy policy that encourages increases
in demand, but does nothing to add to the supply. These policies
have wrought the current imbalance and that imbalance is precisely
what the oil companies are benefiting from.”