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Op-Ed by Melissa Hart: Practical Energy Initiatives

One cannot buy a cup of coffee or turn on the evening news without hearing about the high and still climbing cost of gasoline. Prices have far surpassed record highs and have now topped $4.00 per gallon. When I left Congress just 17 months ago, the average price of gas was $2.33 per gallon - - 72% lower - - a price many thought was high at the time. Gas is now so costly that there is almost no one who doesn't feel the pain.

In my travels across Western Pennsylvania I hear people's frustrations about the increasing gas prices. They are all of us--people who need to be able to get to and from work and take our children to and from school without going broke.

I heard a woman today say that she'd love to buy a hybrid vehicle, but the money is just not there. People need action from Congress to help ease the steady rise in gas prices NOW. It's unrealistic and naïve to think that even if folks could afford to buy one there would be enough hybrid vehicles available to replace each vehicle. And what about the working person whose truck is imperative to his living? Is he supposed to load up the Prius?

Real people need real solutions from Congress. read full article