Former Gov. Jim Gilmore, a candidate for the Virginia U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. John Warner, issued a statement Wednesday responding to Mark Warner’s proposed solutions for the on-going national energy crisis:

“Mark Warner is saying the same things that everyone else in Washington has said for the last 20 years. That is how we got where we are.

“We need to drill here and drill now. When the oil speculators know the United States is serious about drilling here and taking real conservation measures the price of gasoline will start going down.

“Mark Warner says he wants to 'wean' Americans off of oil. He agrees with the liberal special interest groups that want to drive up gasoline prices and force Americans out of their cars.

“Alternative sources of energy are important and we must push them aggressively but they are not going to solve the problems of the average Virginia worker who has to drive 20 or 30 miles every day to work.

“Working families are hurting now and it is time for a commonsense solution to the problems of supply and demand, not the same liberal theories that have restricted America’s energy supplies for decades.

“Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.”