As Americans grapple with record oil and gas prices, politicians facing angry voters have offered up a variety of solutions. Tell us what you think.
Expanding domestic drilling
Supporters, mostly Republican lawmakers, say the United States has vast untapped oil reserves right here at home -- mostly in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off the East and West coasts.
It's hard to say just how much oil is there, but estimates compiled by CNNMoney.com from various government agencies indicate crude oil production could be increased between 1 and 3 million barrels per day. The U.S. currently produces about 5 million barrels of crude a day, while worldwide production stands at around 73 million barrels.
Opening these areas to drilling would cause oil prices to fall immediately, proponents say, as oil traders would fret less about future production. They also say it would lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
Critics -- along with the government's Energy Information Administration -- say any price drop would take years to materialize and be minimal at best -- maybe 2 or 3 cents off a gallon of gas.
Moreover, they say focusing on more oil drilling misses the point: The country should be figuring out a way to use less oil, not drill more, and that it's counterproductive when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Limiting Wall Street money into oil markets
Government economists have said they have found no evidence that speculators -- investors like pension and hedge funds who don't end up using oil -- are to blame for the rising prices. They say trading information shows no correlation between investment activity and price swings.
Others, such as the International Energy Agency, have also said speculators are not to blame. They've pointed to other non-traded commodities that have risen in price even faster than oil, and to the fact that there is no evidence of a bubble, such as excess oil sitting around in storage.
Many people say speculators are good -- saying they allow users to more easily buy and sell contracts -- and that oil price would actually be higher without them.
Still, the correlation of a four-fold increase of investment money into oil futures and a four-fold increase in oil prices since 2004 has not gone unnoticed. Many lawmakers, consumer rights advocates and even some oil industry analysts say speculation is at least partly to blame.
In addition to requiring more information on who owns oil futures, several proposals in Congress want to limit how many oil contracts speculators can buy.
A windfall profits tax on Big Oil
This idea is a recurring theme among lawmakers, especially Democrats.
Barack Obama would impose a windfall profits tax on the big oil companies whenever oil crossed the $80 a barrel mark. Some analysts feel $80 a barrel is what oil 'should' be priced at, factoring out investment money and unfounded supply fears. The cash would be given to low income people to help them offset their energy costs.
Another idea along these lines is eliminating oil company tax breaks and using the money to fund research into renewable sources.
Opponents say raising taxes on oil companies will result in less oil production, and ultimately lead to higher prices. If the government didn't tax oil companies and simply borrowed the cash to give consumers, they say, that would only hurt the dollar and send oil prices higher.
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