Democratic Presidential candidate Al Gore called for a release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to counter high prices. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader criticized the proposal as "too little, too late," saying it's "not enough" to lower oil prices.

The Green Party platform calls for a reduction in auto usage on environmental grounds, a point also made by Gore in his book, Earth in the Balance. Of course, there's no shorter route to that goal than higher fuel prices.

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