BEAVER SPRINGS -- High gas prices and the war in Iraq were the two primary issues on the minds of western Snyder County residents who came out Monday to meet with U.S. Rep. Chris Carney.

Speaking during a public session in the Middlecreek Area Community Center, Carney, D-10 of Dimock, said rising fuel costs are not matching supply and demand.

"Since the first of the year, the demand for gas has declined and the number of miles driven has declined," he said.

He attributed big oil companies' high profit margins to speculation and the weakening American dollar overseas.

"What we need to do is bring the speculators into the light," he said. "Weak money overseas doesn't buy as much anymore."

Carney said the perception of the United States' economy overseas also has affected America's oil crisis.

"I think we are in a recession or teetering right on the brink of one. We need to start drilling domestically," he said.

Congress recently passed the "Use it or Lose it Act," pushing big oil companies to drill on the untapped 68 million acres of onshore and offshore government land they have under lease.

"The oil companies can't get a free ride on this anymore," Carney said. Becoming independent from foreign oil by tapping resources and supplementing those resources with alternative energy are the solutions to America's dependence on foreign oil, he added.

"We are capable of weaning ourselves off of Middle East oil," he said. France has made the decision to build more nuclear power plants, which Carney said he would like to see happen in the United States.

When asked about the war in Iraq, Carney cited the increasingly serious situation in Afghanistan, where nine U.S. troopers were killed on Sunday.

"The war in Iraq is hurting the overall ability to conduct war on terror," he said. "We're barely holding our own in Afghanistan. As we switch out of Iraq, I can imagine that we will put more troops into Afghanistan."

Carney told the residents that the nation needs to continue to support the troops, ensuring they are adequately equipped overseas, and people also need to support military families here.

He also touched on the economy, saying that solving the oil crisis would help it. On health care, he advocated more government involvement in preventative medicine.

Carney is opposed in the November election by Chris Hackett, a Republican.