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Bainbridge Post-Searchlight: Sen. Chambliss speaks on gas prices, farm bill
August 12, 2008
By: CAROLYN IAMON
08/12/2008
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss gave his views on topics of particular interest to voters of southwestern Georgia when he spoke to the Bainbridge Rotary Club Tuesday.
Chambliss, R-Moultrie, said wherever he goes, the three issues of most concern to Georgians are "gas prices, gas prices and gas prices."
Prefacing his remarks on the subject, Chambliss said we haven't gotten where we are in a short period of time and we won't get out of it in a short time. Solutions must be long-term, taking up to 20 years to become less dependent on foreign oil.
He outlined a plan he believes must be established to provide long-term stability and predicted, "If we don't solve the problem, we will be paying $6 to $8 per gallon for gasoline."
First, there must be more drilling for oil domestically and do more offshore exploration. With regard to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska, Chambliss said he has always supported drilling for oil there.
"We know it is there," he said "and it is only 72 miles from the existing Alaskan pipeline." Chambliss said it could be easily transported to the pipeline and it would be in Houston at the refineries in a matter of hours, not years, as opponents have claimed.
Admittedly, environmental concerns raise emotional issues, but Chambliss said with modern technology, it is possible to explore anywhere and pull out without leaving traces.
Second, the United States must refine more gasoline, as the supply has flatlined over the last few years, while demand has increased.
Third, the United States must implement conservation methods-conservation to deal with the demand side. Chambliss said as a nation we are spoiled. He suggested those living in metropolitan areas use more mass transit.
There also need to be more incentives for production and purchase of vehicles operated by alternative fuels. He described a battery-operated vehicle that could be charged overnight at a cost of 60 cents per day.
Chambliss spoke of a non-partisan group that spent six weeks in negotiations to develop a package that would be able to get 60 votes in the Senate.
He admits ANWR and drilling in shale are both lightning rod issues that could not raise the necessary 60 votes, but recommended a commission be established to look at every coastal state, identifying where any offshore oil is located and how to get to it.
Chambliss said when President Bush recently signed the bill lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling the price of oil per barrel has already declined.
Chambliss also supports the development of more nuclear power plants, saying they are the cleanest, most efficient method of producing electricity.
Farm bill issues
The farm bill passed in December 2007, was described as a good product, especially for those in southwest Georgia, where one in six jobs are related in some way to agriculture, according to Chambliss.
He said the focus of the bill is on nutrition-specifically food stamps, food banks and school lunches.
Chambliss said 73 percent of the funding goes to nutrition. Chambliss said many of the former food stamp abuses have been eliminated in the new bill.
"Every time someone uses food stamps, a farmer or rancher somewhere benefits," he added.
There is also more funding in the new bill for the school lunch program to take advantage of locally grown fruits and vegetables-again a benefit to local farmers.
The Commodity Title has seen reforms that reduced the funding to 11 percent-down from 28 percent, and makes sure city folks with farm land in other areas don't get the dollars, that they go to the people who are actually doing the farming.
The Tax Title division, for permanent leases established to preserve the land and benefit heirs, is safe for another five years.
The Endangered Species Act, which often created problems for farmers, now has a win-win proposal in the new bill, allowing farmers to take a tax credit for areas lost under the Endangered Species Act.
Likewise under the Energy Title, incentives for production of ethanol have been greatly expanded. Of the 201 ethanol producing plants in the United States, all but two are corn based, according to Chambliss. Incentives have been added to help people make ethanol from cellulose-based materials, adding "In Georgia we grow pine trees better than corn."
He referred to Range Fuels that in November 2007 began construction of the first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in the nation in Soperton, Ga., where they will make ethanol from wood pulp.
Chambliss answers questions
Questions from the audience were the following:
What about the oil leases companies already hold and aren't implementing on millions of public acres?
Chambliss said if the companies thought oil was there, they would be drilling there, that they would rather drill here in the United States close to refineries than drill overseas and ship it back.
Can something be done about the lower Medicare reimbursement to medical providers? Why does it have to be patched periodically?
Chambliss said it is because Congress doesn't have the backbone to take on Medicare or Social Security issues. "There are some hard and tough decisions to make there. He has heard predictions that by 2015, Social Security will pay out more in benefits than it is taking in, and that new recipients born after a specified time are being advised that their benefit will be 78 percent of expectations.
Regarding national security, the question was asked as to how vulnerable the country is from another terrorist attack. Chambliss replied that he was really surprised no one has made another successful attempt by now, predicting that the next president-whoever it may be-will be tested sooner or later, just as George W. Bush was tested.
A final question was asked if we have the human intelligence in place for national security.
Chambliss said we have seen a decline in human intelligence, giving the situation in Iran as an example of where we are very weak. He believes the passage of the Reformed Intelligence Bill will help to improve the situation by being able to pick up more on the airwaves.
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