America has a crisis on its hands, and that is its dependence on foreign oil, said U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-22nd Dist.) speaking at Cornell on federal energy initiatives April 18.

The talk, in a packed 401 Warren Hall, was the sixth in a series of seminars called the Future of Rural New York, sponsored by Cornell's Department of Development Sociology.

"This is an issue that has ramifications on every level of our lives," Hinchey said. "Energy is involved in pretty much everything we do, from getting up in the mornings to heating our homes to driving to work. Sixty-five percent of the oil we consume each year is foreign. It's costing us around $200,000 per minute."

Hinchey spoke at length about the burdens placed on consumers by heightened gasoline prices, noting that 58 percent of Americans said last year that high gas prices hurt them. The price of oil continues to climb, he noted. "Just this morning it hit $70 per barrel. This is extremely hard on workers, especially blue-collar workers ... just getting back and forth to work everyday is becoming a major burden."

Much of the blame, he said, lies with the oil companies. "A crime is being perpetrated against the American people. These oil companies, they're making record profits today. It's all about supply and demand. By limiting the capacity of the refineries, corporate America is able to manipulate the amount of gasoline that's available at the pump. You might have heard that Lee Raymond, the CEO of Exxon-Mobil, just retired on something like $140,000 a day. Imagine how my constituents feel hearing that. Most of them would be lucky to make that in a year."

The Bush administration isn't taking the issue seriously enough, said Hinchey, noting that both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have made much of their money in oil. This has a definite impact on their policy decisions, he argued. "Our concern, though, shouldn't be what is right for the privileged but what is right for the American people and the world. We must stop the oil companies from making decisions about our future." In 2003, Hinchey noted, Bush promised the nation he would do something about the price of gasoline, yet today we spend $6 billion a month in Iraq. "If we could put some of that money -- say $20-$40 billion -- into new energy policies, I'm convinced we would see some immediate positive results," Hinchey said.

Another concern, he added, is the environment and global warming. "Basically it's a huge mess, and something needs to be done to fix it. If we stay on the present course, we will triple the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2100," said Hinchey. "We owe it to the world and future generations not to let that happen."

Hinchey proposed that fuel economy standards, which haven't been changed since the 1970s, should be immediately upgraded to 40 miles per gallon. "Today I see people driving these tanks around," he said. Also, public transportation could be improved, and more research into such alternative sources of energy as hydrogen and biofuels should be done. Hinchey is currently working on a nonpartisan energy bill that would put these proposals into effect.

Concluding on an optimistic note, he said, "This problem is solvable. It might not happen overnight, but we can wean ourselves from oil. If you look at the history of energy use, you see a progression. We went from wood to water to coal to oil. And now we just have to find the next thing."

Graduate student Joseph Murtagh is a writer intern at the Cornell News Service.