[SARAH THOMPSON] Hello, my name is Sarah Thompson, from Greensboro, North Carolina, and my question is for the congressmen. We have no real comprehensive energy policy in the United States. When are our representatives going to get serious about finding an alternative for our energy while putting Americans back to work and getting our nose out of the Middle East?

[ASSURAS] Welcome back to "energyNOW!" That question, from Sarah Thompson, who is fed up with high gas prices. A couple of months ago, she created No Gas Day on Facebook, asking people to avoid all gas stations on March 31st, and she had more than a million followers. Joining me for theMIX, Republican congressman Michael Burgess from Texas. He sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. And Democratic congressman Earl Blumenauer from Oregon is chairman of the Congressional Livable Communities Task Force, which just released a report titled, "Freedom from Oil." So, congressmen, could you answer that question? Congressman Blumenauer?

[BLUMENAUER] I want to be clear that what we need to do with energy, I think, is something the majority of the American public would agree with. It's not -- it's about providing choices for people, not forcing them to either drive or ride a bike.

[ASSURAS] And how is that going to affect gas prices?

[BLUMENAUER] Well, that is largely dependent on supply. Getting petroleum from farther and farther away or using more and more technology costs more. We're not making any more, but there is nothing that is going to change a 100-year trend of higher oil prices, higher gas prices. What needs to happen is to give people more choices, not -- and not be held hostage.

[ASSURAS] Back to Sarah Thompson's question --

[BURGESS] Well, her question was on national energy policy, and in fact, we've had, in my brief tenure in Congress, one that was passed in 2005, which I was in favor of, one that passed in 2007, which I opposed. The difficulty is the consistency in our energy policy, and we will change direction on a dime, depending upon political equations. And that's what's got to be frustrating to people. I think the realistic approach that needs to be taken is all of the above. But we tend to pick winners and losers in our tax code. We tend to pick winners and losers with subsidies. That's what has distorted the market.

[ASSURAS] If I could get just a quick answer to this one question from both of you, what do you think is the key to the high volatility of gas prices? What is causing that volatility? Congressman?

[BURGESS] Well, ultimately, it is supply, and I realize there are other things that intersect with that, and certainly the traders and speculators do play a role, but as long as the supply is tight, the market is going to respond to those signals in the very volatile ways that we've seen.

[ASSURAS] Congressman?

[BLUMENAUER] I would agree with that assessment. There are questions about how much speculation enters into it. But at the end of the day, we aren't creating any more dinosaurs that lead to the oil supply, and there is a dramatic increase around the globe. The United States, even though we consume more petroleum than anybody, by far, now it's down to about 21% of the world's supply, so we're competing with the Chinese, with the Indians...

[TEXT ON SCREEN] To see the entire interview with the Congressmen go to energynow.com.

[BLUMENAUER] ...European Union, and inevitably gas prices and oil prices are going to go up, as the supply continues to become tighter.

[ASSURAS] You know, we could keep going. Thank you very much for joining us.