Energy Bill seen as catharsis for gas prices

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are using soaring gas prices to push their own agendas as part of the federal Energy Bill:

With the national average well over $2 a gallon, Republicans and Democrats are eager to show constituents that they are doing something in response — even though they acknowledge limits to what they can do to provide immediate relief.

They are introducing bills, such as the OPEC Accountability Act, staging press conferences at gas stations and calling for federal investigations into alleged price gouging by oil companies.

President Bush, worried that high gas prices could become a drag on the economy, is expected to make passage of an energy bill the subject of his radio address today, foreshadowing a higher presidential profile on the issue.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted last month found that more Americans were blaming Bush for rising oil and gas prices — 34%, up from 27% in May. Some political analysts speculate that the high gas prices are contributing to declines in Bush's overall approval rating.

In a CNN/Gallup/USA Today survey this month, 44% of respondents called it extremely important for Congress and the president to address gas prices. In contrast, 37% described it as extremely important for Congress and the president to overhaul Social Security — Bush's main domestic priority.

"If prices continue going up," said Stuart Roy, a Republican strategist and former aide to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), "everyone will want to be positioned as having tried to bring them down. If prices drop, everyone will want to be there to take the credit."

Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), added: "When we're talking about prices of gasoline that are over $2 a gallon … there's no question that there's a sense that we have to do something."