Rep Ralph Hall, R-Tex, likes to tell how his fourth district of Texas has had only four representatives sent to Washington.
He's the fourth and Speaker Sam Rayburn was the third.
So we think it has big meaning when Hall decides to break with the president over oil.
You still see a picture of Bush and Hall taking a walk together on Hall's website.
President Bush is "running away" from fossil fuels, Hall told NEMA's restructuring conference yesterday.
Bush isn't going to fund $2 billion in incentives for deepwater Gulf of Mexico energy development, noted Hall who chairs the House Energy & Air Quality Subcommittee.
The incentives would've been paid for via royalties, Hall added.
Hall sees political pressure on gasoline prices pushing Bush in the wrong direction and hurting the nation's chance to boost domestic natural gas production and ease prices.
EPACT, Hall added, confirmed Congress's belief in competitive markets as the best way to set prices.
The law boosted FERC's anti-manipulation authority, he added, even though he didn't think FERC needed the new power.
