Gas Prices Energizing Va. Senate Race

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Warner Offers Proposals, Disputes Gilmore on Drilling
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/18/AR2008061803057.html?hpid=topnews

Senate candidate Mark R. Warner said Wednesday that the U.S. government needs to get tougher with OPEC and better regulate investors speculating in the oil market in order to drive down gas prices.

Warner (D) unveiled his energy policy the same day that President Bush called for Congress to remove the federal ban on offshore drilling, including areas off the Virginia coastline. Warner said he supports offshore exploration for oil and natural gas but stopped short of endorsing drilling, expressing environmental concerns and saying it would have no immediate impact on gas prices.

With those prices exceeding $4 a gallon, the issue of offshore drilling is emerging as a major theme of both the U.S. Senate race and next week's battle in the General Assembly over transportation funding.

"We could drill everywhere from here to New Jersey, and it's still years away and will only add about 140 days of oil supply to this country," said Warner, a former governor.