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Wyden get his fill at pump Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Sen. Ron Wyden talks to the press during his "sidewalk office hours" Tuesday at the Astro gas station on South Riverside in Medford. Wyden talked with local folks about everything from gas prices to student visas. Senator discusses energy prices, policy during sidewalk 'meeting' By PAUL FATTIG Things got a bit toasty for U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden during a "sidewalk office hours" meeting in Medford Tuesday. But the grilling wasn't from the public: Mother Nature provided the hot air, sending the mercury to near triple digits by mid-afternoon at the Astro gas station on South Riverside Avenue. "Because the energy issue is very much on people's minds, I wanted to get out and listen to people at the gas pump," Wyden explained of his visit. Before holding office, Wyden talked with the local media about his effort to reduce high gasoline prices, noting that he had an unlikely ally in Christian conservative Pat Robertson in fighting anticompetitive practices among major oil companies. That alliance reflects the concern about the growing lack of competition among oil firms, Wyden said. "This is not a partisan issue," he said. "We need to get competition back into the gasoline business. In our state, where we've lost hundreds of stations, three or four companies control 70 percent of the gas at the pump. "Had the oil companies not cut oil refinery capacity in 11 states in the middle and late 1990s, we would have 70,000 to 80,000 barrels of additional oil per day," he added. "That wouldn't have handled all the problems we're facing in this country now, but it would have made a real difference." Uncle Sam ought to look very closely at oil company mergers, he said. "I don't think it's an accident that we've lost more than 600 gasoline stations in just a few years," he said. When asked about the drama being played out in the Klamath Basin, where farmers are losing crops because there's not enough water for both them and endangered fish, Wyden said that he had supported a bill which would have rewritten the Endangered Species Act. "Had our legislation passed, it might have mitigated some of the damages we're seeing in Klamath now," he said, although noting all the problems wouldn't have been solved, given the severe drought. That change, supported by agricultural groups, would have placed more importance on local input on ESA issues and less on that coming from Washington, D.C., he said. "I don't think there is any problem with protecting species," he said. "The problem is that the federal government comes up with a one-size-fits-all approach." With that, Wyden began hearing from a dozen people who braved the heat to talk to a U.S. senator about a variety of issues, from prescription drugs to veterans' benefits. Medford resident Darrell Wilson just wanted to shake his hand. "I think you're doing a hell of a good job - hope you run for re-election," Wilson said. Sharon Armstrong, marketing director for the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County, told Wyden about a new promotional program called "Get Pumped Up in Medford." Participants need only present a local gas station receipt at the chamber or visitors' center to receive discount coupons from participating businesses, she explained. Two men asked Wyden to consider decriminalizing the use of marijuana. A woman called on Wyden to protect the current boundaries of the local Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. A veteran asked the senator to help him resolve a veterans' benefits issue. A Medford man, who just returned from Ethiopia, asked for Wyden's help in obtaining a student visa for a young Ethiopian wanting to study in the United States. And Central Point resident Bobbie Zeulner, manager of the gas station, wanted help on finding information about her father, Robert E. Findlay, who died in 1965. "He died when I was 15," she said. "I have been trying to trace him back. He was in the service but the service says they have no record of him. We call up the Social Security (Administration) and they said they had no record of him. "I know that's B.S. - he's buried out here in Ashland," she added. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.