The rising price of fuel is a big concern for one area Congressman. Representative Bill Shuster says he's hearing from a lot of frustrated consumers during an early July tour of his district. From his perspective, Congressman Shuster says the most frustrating part of trying to deal with these record high gas prices is the lack of action in Washington.

Shuster says when it comes to the high energy prices that are hitting consumers, political leaders in Washington have been contributing to the problem. In the view of Ninth District Republican, the record oil prices can be traced in part, to Congress's lack of action over the past thirty years. Based on the time he has spent in Washington, Shuster says a big part of any solution will finding ways to increase this Nation's energy production. Shuster say he supports moving legislation forward that would increase the domestic oil production flowing into the system.

 While he supports additional domestic drilling, Shuster say his call for energy Independence is about more than drilling for oil and that it also covers what the Congressman calls renewables and alternative energy. He says the need is there for a sustainable energy plan in this country . Shuster says partisan politics is one big reason there has been a lack of action on energy development in Washington. But he's hoping because all Members of the House of Representatives are hearing the concerns of their constituents about hardships caused by the the rising price of energy, legislative action is possible to protect our energy future long term.

Congressman Shuster says recent surveys show a lot of support of the energy production initiatives he is pushing and he hopes congressional action could be taken , at least on the committee level, between now and the fall.