Reply #24: Story has been updated [View All]

[katinmn]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060425/pl_nm/bush_energy_dc_6;_ylt=AlG_eBcQZcRD6YG.x8A7tAw8rowC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush pressured profit-rich oil companies to invest in new refineries on Tuesday and announced steps against any price gouging to contain gas prices that have soared while his popularity plummets.

He directed the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend federal clean-burning gasoline rules this summer that are forcing consumers to buy expensive new gasoline blends.

Bush temporarily halted shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a way to get more oil on the market and try to combat prices that have soared above $3 a gallon.

But he acknowledged that Americans are in for a tough summer on the road.

"Energy experts predict gas prices are going to remain high throughout the summer. And that's going to be a continued strain on the American people," he told the Renewable Fuels Association, a group advocating expanded use of ethanol as an alternative fuel source.

more about the impact high gas prices are having on Republican campaigns and how he's asking his oil cronies to invest in new refineries and more bullshit.