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Guest opinion: We must create blueprint to combat high energy costs By Denny Rehberg U.S. Representative of Montana

Fed up with high prices at the pump? You’re not alone. Since July, I’ve gotten calls, letters, and e-mails from dozens of Montanans asking my help in getting to the bottom of why gasoline recently cost more $3 a gallon in our state.

In the days following Hurricane Katrina, the United States even offered to sell refineries up to 30 million barrels of oil from the nation’s strategic oil reserve. Only 11 million barrels were bought.

In the meantime, there have been numerous calls for federal and state officials, and even Congress, to investigate possible price gouging, either at the local retail level or among the big oil companies. An investigation must and will happen.

Fortunately, with the House passage of the energy bill – which the president signed into law in August – we contemplated the need to do just that. Not only does the legislation provide an energy blueprint for the coming years, it also authorizes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to launch such an investigation when pump prices spike as they have this past month.

The FTC announced an investigation is under way to determine if any "unlawful conduct affecting refinery capacity or other forms of illegal behavior have provided a foundation for price manipulation."

Full Article: http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/10/01/build/opinion/40-guest-opinion.inc

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