America’s energy crisis has been years in the making. But for the past two years, while gas prices across the country have nearly doubled, the Democrat-led Congress, controlled by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, has consistently refused to act on comprehensive solutions that will lead to our long-term energy independence.

Most people understand that America’s pain at the pump is a reflection of numerous global factors, including OPEC price controls, global supply and demand, the weak U.S. dollar, and our reliance on foreign sources of oil, to name just a few.

Despite the causes of the energy crisis, the fact remains that families and businesses across Southwest Florida and beyond are struggling with high gas prices and rising costs of other goods and services. But instead of allowing the People’s House to do the people’s business, Speaker Pelosi has instead focused much of Congress’ time on naming post offices, honoring athletic accomplishments, and countless other trivial matters.

Solving America’s energy crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our generation, and the decision by Speaker Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues to continue to ignore it is a total failure of leadership.

The American people are rightfully outraged. They want and need relief at the pump. They understand that the nation’s long-term freedom, security and prosperity are dependent upon Congress enacting comprehensive legislation that moves us toward energy independence.

They don’t understand why, after two years of stalling and delaying, Speaker Pelosi adjourned the House of Representatives for the month of August without taking any action to address our energy crisis. Neither do I. Neither do my Republican colleagues. And neither do many rank and file Democrats.

Many people in Southwest Florida have been calling, emailing and writing my office to ask why Speaker Pelosi refuses to act on any of the dozens of pieces of legislation now before Congress that would lessen our dependence on foreign oil and accelerate America’s research and investment in alternative energies.

It seems the Democratic leadership would once again prefer to pander to their liberal base than face the responsible steps that Congress must take to protect this country — this time from the growing economic threats posed by the energy crisis.

Clearly, there’s no single magic bullet for solving America’s energy crisis. But one comprehensive bill that Congress should consider without delay is the American Energy Act (H.R. 6566). This legislation (which I co-sponsored last month) recognizes this fact by addressing multiple ways to boost our domestic energy production, including:

Opening our deep water ocean resources, Arctic coastal plain, and Western oil shale resources to oil and gas exploration;

Removing the bureaucratic red tape that hinders the construction of new oil refineries;

Providing tax incentives for businesses and families that purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles;

Eliminating the barriers to nuclear power production;

Permanently expanding the tax credit for alternative energy production, including wind, solar and hydrogen;

And promoting coal-to-liquids technology.

This broad-based solution would help unlock the natural resources of our country and diversify our baseline energy sources. Just as importantly, it would unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of America as we endeavor to research, develop, invest in, and commercialize new energy sources that will power America for generations to come.

Across the country people from every walk of life are calling, writing and emailing Speaker Pelosi to urge her to take immediate steps to solve America’s energy crisis.

It’s past time for Speaker Pelosi to either lead or get out of the way.

I urge you to visit my Web site at “http://www.conniemack.com”>www.conniemack.com and to sign my “Energy Independence Now” petition so that together we can send Speaker Pelosi this critical message and demand that she let the People’s House do the people’s business.

– Connie Mack repressts District 14, which includes Cape Coral