Cornyn visits gas station

Ten minutes before U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's arrival, the only sign that an important guest would soon be visiting Kent Kwik convenience store was the managers digging up weeds around the parking lot.

But once he arrived at 4203 N. Grandview Ave., Cornyn, R-Texas, said more important digging needs to take place - namely drilling for oil in the Outer Continental Shelf, the oil shales of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah and the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.

"Congress needs to not whistle by the graveyard, so to speak, but actually step up and deal with this in a far-sighted way," Cornyn said as motorists nearby gassed up and yapped on cell phones.

While some have said Americans wouldn't see lower prices at the pump for years after increased drilling started, Cornyn said Congressional approval would send a "signal" to oil markets that could lower prices right away. He also pointed out that drilling could be going on now had former President Bill Clinton not vetoed an Alaskan drilling bill 10 years ago.

"Now is not the time to continue the failed policies of the past 30 years by doing nothing," he said. "Congress would be building a bridge to a clean-energy future."

Cornyn said the recent drop in gas prices - the Texaco at Kent Kwik was charging $3.55 a gallon Sunday - was a temporary adjustment due to reduced consumption, which shouldn't prevent Congress from acting.

"Supply and demand are laws that Congress can't repeal," he said.

Cornyn is running for re-election Nov. 4 against Democrat Rick Noriega, a state representative from Houston. While he has supported an end to the ban on offshore drilling, Noriega has called for oil companies to be required to drill or give up oil leases they hold on federal land.

Filling up a few feet away from where Cornyn spoke, Doyle Williams of Odessa agreed with Cornyn that, in order to lower energy prices, the U.S. needs to increase drilling, as well as use of renewable and nuclear energy.

"If we can have nuclear reactors on our aircraft carriers, why can't we have them here in the states?" Williams asked. "Other countries are doing it, why shouldn't we?"