FuelClub Discount

The lights are dim, the mikes are off, and the television cameras dark in the US House of Representatives. But minority Republicans – sensing traction with voters on the issue of offshore drilling – aren’t giving up the floor.

Nearly 90 GOP lawmakers, about 40 percent of the Republican caucus, have come back to Washington since the House voted to adjourn on Aug. 1 to protest Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to allow a vote to lift a moratorium on offshore drilling.

“The American people deserve more access to American oil, and Congress should be in session until we vote,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R) of Indiana, speaking to a chamber half-filled with tourists, escorted by GOP lawmakers to break off their tours of the Capitol and take a seat on the floor. He urged the tourists, many of whom seemed astonished to find themselves on the floor of the US House of Representatives, to “call to a Democratic member of Congress from your state” to demand a vote.

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The government owns hundreds of underground fuel tanks, several in Michigan, that need to be inspected for leaks of hazardous substances that could make local water undrinkable.

Many of the tanks were designed for emergencies back in the Cold War.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has known since at least the 1990s that tanks under its supervision around the country could be leaking fuel into soil and groundwater, according to Associated Press interviews and research.

The agency knows of at least 150 underground tanks that must be inspected for leaks, says spokeswoman Debbie Wing. FEMA also is trying to determine by September whether an additional 124 tanks are underground or above ground and whether they are leaking.

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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan to release oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve may lower crude and gasoline prices in the short term, but it could also leave the United States more vulnerable in a supply emergency.

Obama called this week for easing fuel prices by releasing some 70 million barrels of light, sweet crude from the nation’s stockpile and swapping it for less expensive heavy, sour oil.

The hope is that putting more oil on the market will push down crude prices and those savings will be passed on to consumers at the gasoline pump.

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Senator Barack Obama altered his position on Monday to call for tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices as he outlined an energy plan that contrasts with Senator John McCain’s greater emphasis on expanded offshore drilling and coal and nuclear technology.

In a speech here and in a new advertisement, Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, also sought to portray his Republican rival, McCain, as “in the pocket” of oil giants that are profiting from gasoline priced at more than $4 a gallon. And in his speech, Obama called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies to finance rebates for Americans.

At the heart of Obama’s proposals is a focus on fostering alternative energy development by investing $150 billion in emerging technologies and renewable fuels. Seeking to put a million fuel-efficient hybrid plug-in automobiles on the road, he said that he would offer a $7,000 tax credit to buyers, the overall cost of which he did not specify. In addition, Obama said his goal was to have 10 percent of the country’s energy needs met by renewable resources by the end of his first term, more than double the current figure.

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Another farm was targeted for diesel fuel with someone stealing 2,000 gallons, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

A farm in the 7400 block of Sawgrass Road in Parrish had diesel taken between 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and 6:30 a.m. Thursday, authorities believe.

The thieves cut the padlock off the gate to get into the property. The fuel is valued at about $8,000.
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Police are investigating a whopper of a fuel theft from a service station in Burbank.

Police on Monday said the service station’s owner reported 4,000 gallons of diesel disappeared sometime before 5 a.m. on Friday.

Burbank police Detective Sam Anderson says when the gas station opened at that time, workers found the underground diesel tanks had been drained.
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