Cazayoux supports drilling

• By SARAH CHACKO
• Capitol news bureau
• Published: Jun 22, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux said Saturday he supports President Bush’s call to explore untouched domestic oil reserves.

Drivers who stopped at a gas station in Port Allen on Saturday afternoon had a chance to talk with Rep. Cazayoux, D-New Roads, about how he intends to keep gasoline prices from increasing.

“I can’t remember the last time I filled up more than halfway,” said Brian Clifford, of Port Allen.

Clifford said he didn’t understand why the United States continues to buy oil from foreign markets when there is so much to be explored domestically, like in Alaska.

Dwight McKay, formerly of New Orleans, said Congress acts like the East and West coasts are too good for exploration while the Gulf Coast is drained.

In the meantime, “We ought to be growing corn in the medians, in every spot there is to grow corn or sugar cane or anything else that can be used to make fuel,” said McKay, who now lives in Houston.

Cazayoux, a former state representative who won the Baton Rouge-area 6th Congressional District seat in May, said he supports drilling in Alaska and lifting a moratorium on offshore drilling.

Bush said during his weekly radio address Saturday that drilling domestically and expanding oil refineries’ capacity would reduce dependence on foreign oil and the public would see lower prices at the pump.

During his address, Bush, a Republican, repeatedly pointed to Democratic leaders who opposed measures to expand the domestic oil market.

“Now that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions,” said Bush, according to a White House transcript of the president’s remarks.

“If congressional leaders leave for the Fourth of July recess without taking action,” Bush said, “they will need to explain why $4-a-gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act.”

Cazayoux defended the Democrats, saying the oil problem was in the works well before they came into leadership in Congress. But he quickly points out that the solution will require work from both sides.

Environmentalists raise valid concern for the environment when it comes to drilling, Cazayoux said. But oil companies have come far in developing ways to minimize the impact they leave behind, he said.