But U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said it won't happen unless both sides are willing to give a little, and he's not convinced Republicans are serious about tackling the problem of high energy prices with the comprehensive approach that's needed.
“I hope both sides aren't digging in their heels on this,” he said in a telephone news conference with Montana reporters. “But I've seen many times in the last year where the option to do nothing seems to be preferred instead of doing something.”
“The last two weeks that we were in session (in July), I watched many, many energy solutions that were not allowed to go forward,” he said. “Hopefully we can get back in there in September, if (we) get pounded on enough, and we can come up with a package that makes sense for the country, short term and long term.”
Tester said he supports more drilling for petroleum - if the oil goes to Americans, and not overseas - a “serious investment” in renewable energy technologies, and a crackdown on oil-trading speculation.
As gasoline has hit $4 a gallon and natural gas prices are predicted to reach all-time highs this fall and winter, the political rhetoric on how to respond has hit a fever pitch.
U.S. House Republicans, including Montana's congressman, Denny Rehberg, returned to Washington, D.C., this week during a recess to bash Democratic leaders for refusing action on a GOP energy bill that would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore areas and includes other energy-production incentives.
Congress began a five-week summer recess this week. As legislators left town, they traded charges that both sides had blocked energy legislation trying to address high fuel prices.
Republicans, including presidential candidate John McCain, are emphasizing their support for oil exploration in environmentally sensitive areas, to increase domestic production, which they say could help reduce prices.
On Thursday, Libertarian Mike Fellows of Missoula, one of two people challenging Rehberg this year, said Rehberg's return to Washington “is nothing more than election-year pandering.”
Republicans have been in control of Washington for most of the past seven years and have run up huge deficit spending, which Fellows said is to blame for a weak U.S. dollar, driving up energy prices.
Spokesman Bridger Pierce said Rehberg was responding to Montanans telling him that Congress should act to address high energy prices, and that Fellows is “clearly out of touch with the people of Montana.”
Tester, a farmer, said he's felt the pain of higher diesel fuel prices, and that solving the energy crisis is the “No. 1 issue.”
Democrats support more domestic production and drilling, and that drilling already is occurring in some areas, including eastern Montana, he added. Yet Democrats believe an energy bill also needs a bigger emphasis on renewable fuels and restrictions on market speculation in oil, which Tester said could reduce the price of fuel by as much as 50 cents a gallon.
“We all know there is not a silver bullet; if you've got one, I'd like to know what it is,” Tester said. “It's going to take a multifaceted approach before we can have economic security and national security and energy that is affordable.”
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