Samuel Bodman

Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman was Wednesday's guest. Here are excerpts from his remarks:

On the effect of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on domestic energy supplies:

"We have an absence of crude oil and an absence of natural gas in our economy. The crude oil component we can to some degree deal with, because we do have the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But there will be interruptions. There will be discontinuities. Natural gas is going to even be a harder challenge. We are struggling with it."

On the economic impact of tight energy supplies:

"We have a very strong economy, in part because we have had available and relatively inexpensive energy. Those days, at least for the medium term, are behind us and we are now dealing with a very different environment."

On the need for energy conservation:

"The easiest place to find energy is [by] looking at the energy that we currently waste.... We all need to be more thoughtful in how we use energy."

On whether American motorists can expect to pay more for gasoline permanently:

"I believe that [the Saudis] are going to be able to be successful [in increasing oil output] - that we will see some relief over the next two or three years in terms of oil availability. And we should see some mitigation of prices.... The job of the Energy secretary is not looking out a year or two, it is trying to look out 10 years."