If U.S. Congressman Todd Akin needed any confirmation that high gas prices are a concern of his constituents, he got it last week when he visited an O'Fallon gas station.

His stop at U-Gas was part of a daylong energy tour, which included meeting with AmerenUE officials to discuss growing energy needs and with Fort Zumwalt School officials to discuss budget challenges due to rising energy costs.

Akin chatted with constituents as they filled up their gas tanks. This summer alone, Akin has heard from more than 3,000 constituents that they want Congress to pass legislation to address the high cost of energy, he said.

"Week after week families are being forced to transfer monies from other categories in their budgets to pay for the fuel it takes to get to work," Akin said.

Scott Stansberry, a Direct TV contractor, said it's costing him a lot more to live and to work, with the rising cost for fuel and food. As a contractor, he has to pay for his own gas, which he says is costing him double what it cost him last year. "It cuts into your pay," he said.

The higher price of gas has caused him to make cuts to his budget and to the amount of driving he does outside of work. "I try to do all of my errands at once, and I go out of town less on the weekends," Stansberry said.

Mom Suzanne Ordelheide has pulled her children out of a private school in St. Peters and enrolled them in a school closer to their Wright City home. She said the cost of driving to and from school every day became too much for her family.

Akin is seeking re-election in November for the second congressional district, which he has served since 2001.The district encompasses much of St. Louis County, half of St. Charles County and all of Lincoln County. Akin's opponent in November is Bill Haas, a corporate lawyer and professor, who served on the St. Louis School Board from 1997-2005.

Akin said the three focuses of his campaign will be "energy, energy and energy."

Akin is asking that Congress realistically address the energy crisis, and has introduced the $150 Barrel Energy Extortion Act to open American energy to new development when oil reaches $150 a barrel. Congress did not take a vote on the bill before taking its summer recess, which Akin blames on the Democrats. "Somewhere along the line, prices will get to where it has to come to a vote," he said.

Akin's bill is intended to develop American energy independence, lower gas prices and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the continental shelf to oil and gas production; expanding the refinery capacity of the U.S.; and promoting the construction of new nuclear power plants.

He is in support of using a combination of traditional energy and alternative fuels, such as coal, biofuels, hydrogen and nuclear.

"I have always been a supporter of nuclear energy," Akin said. "The rewards are substantive as far as its low cost energy and its cleaner." He noted that nuclear power becomes a more attractive energy source in the context of global warming.

Akin said the reason America doesn't move forward with offshore drilling and alternative forms of energy is purely political. He said the United States has adequate natural resources and technology and innovation to resolve its dependence on foreign oil.

Originally published by Sarah Wienke.

(c) 2008 St. Charles County Business Record. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Story Source: St. Charles County Business Record