By Bill Varian, St. Pete Times, 5/5/06

The combustible rise in gas prices has emerged as a theme in the District 11 race to replace Rep. Jim Davis.

Kathy Castor, a Democratic Hillsborough County commissioner, announced a six-point plan Thursday that she says will help wean America from dependence on foreign oil - from promoting conservation to approving growth rules that encourage downtown residential construction. She blasted the slow pace of initiatives coming out of Washington.

"I'm going to be a leader for this community," Castor said. "We can't wait for Congress and our oilman president."

Castor made her announcement in front of a cash machine outside the Bank of America on Davis Islands, next to the 7-Eleven convenience store where even the cheap grade
price was pushing $3. The point: Gas prices are hitting levels that make visits to the cash machine mandatory.

As a congresswoman, she said, she would support legislation that makes it easier to conserve, to develop alternative fuels, to stop giveaways to oil companies, to promote transit and growth management, to oppose offshore drilling and to raise fuel economy standards. Putting the first letter of each plank and her platform, she called it the C.A.S.T.O.R. Plan (conserve, alternative, stop, transit, oppose, raise).

Castor said afterward that she is promoting practical ideas that won't take years to implement. She said she would work to support companies seeking to open ethanol operations at the Port of Tampa, where much of Central Florida's petroleum arrives. She said she would also push for greater energy efficiency for appliances and support spending more money for research and development at the University of South Florida's
Clean Energy Research Center and the Center for Urban Transportation Research.

She is not the only District 11 candidate to focus on energy. Fellow Democrat Scott Farrell, a Tampa lawyer, has built much of his campaign around the issue, spending much of his campaign war chest on a recreational vehicle outfitted to run on discarded kitchen grease in an effort to promote alternative fuel sources.

Another Democrat in the race, Al Fox, an advocate for opening relations with Cuba, has said the rising fuel prices are one reason why this is a good idea. With Cuba moving toward more oil drilling, open relations would benefit the United States.