With energy problems mounting once more, Congress has a role to play in unlocking the vast natural resources the U.S. possesses that would help alleviate the problems. Sadly, the Senate isn’t taking the issue seriously and is instead playing its usual games, largely because of concerns from the Florida senators about oil rigs ruining the view or something like that. My colleague Myron Ebell isn’t happy: The Senate bill pretends to do something about increasing oil and gas production in this country, but passing it will in fact be an obstacle to doing something real about high gas prices… If the Senate was really interested in helping provide affordable energy for American consumers, they would follow the lead of the House and allow coastal states to allow oil and gas exploration along the entire outer continental shelf. As for the concerns of the Senators from Florida, they were already addressed in the bill passed by the House, H.R. 4761, which is why 14 of Florida’s 25 House members voted for it. The Senate should pass either the House bill or Senator Warner’s bill, S. 2290. More here.