vehicles, there is going to be that evolution. we have to sort out what makes the most sense. whichever fuel or energy sources used, it will require infrastructure. it's very difficult to build out eight different types of infrastructure to meet that kind of broad technology platform. i think we will have some hard choices as a nation to make about what our future transportation fuels will be. that is part of what this study is hoping to shed a great deal of light on. again, as i've said before, there is no question that for many years to come, the internal combustion engine, fuelled by hydrocarbons, particularly crude oil, or going to be a dominant form of transportation here in the united states. >> should oil exploration be

permitted in the great lakes? >> that is a great question. from a geologic standpoint, i don't know if the great lakes has exploration potential. in terms of whether or not people would want to explore there are not, i just don't know. as to whether it could be done safely and environmentally responsibly, absolutely. ours is an industry that operates in many hostile environments in terms of weather and climate and other things. i know the great lakes can have some pretty ferocious winter storms, but we have operated very safely in the north sea, the u.k., and the norwegian north sea. tremendous storms, high winds and waves, the industry has operated very safely, so i am

confident we could explore safely. i just don't know if we would find any oil and gas. >> can you describe what makes marathon different than the other oil companies? >> our people. i think our people make the difference. there are a lot of other things , our people underpined by our values and culture is what makes a special. we do an employee survey every 18 months, and one of the outcomes of that is employee engagement. it measures how engaged are our people? how tied to the company, how much are they driven by the companies success, and what the consultants tell us is the employee engagements course that we record at marathon are the highest they see anywhere. a number of our directors have commented the same, it is higher

than what they see anywhere else. our employees love our company. it is a company that has stood by its values for over 120 years. i think that means a great deal. >> why did gas prices escalate locally due to a minor pipeline disruption, when gas inventories are at record highs, and how long will prices remain high? >> that is a great question. i have had that question a couple of times last night and again this morning. stay tuned, because i think they are going to change. let's look at the state of michigan. you have one refinery in the state of michigan. it runs about 106,000 gallons per day. it makes up about 1% of

michigan's demand. the rest of the refined product that is used in consumed here in michigan comes from chicago. three or four of the big refineries in chicago, there are a couple of different large pipelines that bring that product over. you are already on the heels of an incident in the kalamazoo river, and about a week and a half ago there was an incident in chicago. the pipeline 6b that delivers some crude to us and some down to toledo is out of commission. the other problem that bring screwed over from chicago is out of commission. -- that brings crude over from chicago. those businesses and other suppliers who rely on chicago to supply this market, we have to bid up and over what someone else is willing to pay in those markets to be able to get that product over here. just this morning, i received a

note that the problem in chicago has been repaired and is now back up and running. at noon i saucepot prices starting to decline. it is just -- i saw prices starting to decline. it is just a supply and demand issue. >> this is the last question. with the oil spill that happened, how has this made you look at marathon differently in your systems differently, and what are you doing about it? >> i think beyond the steps i talked about before specific to the gulf of mexico, we take emergency preparedness and response very, very seriously. before that incident occurred, we had scheduled will recall an oil spill drill for september -- what we call an oil spill drill. it was in lafayette, louisiana.

we simulated that we had an oil spill in the gulf of mexico, and we mobilized our teams and responded, played out the scenario over a two-day period. the comment i made to our people at the beginning of that exercise was that every day, 30,000 marathon people around the world do their best to ensure we never have that kind of incident, but we need to be prepared. i am an lsu tiger, but i quoted a coach who used to say to his team's, failure to prepare is preparing for failure. what i said about that drill was, we are preparing so we can be successful in the event we have an incident that we hope will never happen. we learned a lot in doing that drill, in terms of our capability and things we need to do better and the things we are already doing well. our intent is to never have that

kind of incident, but in the unlikely event we do, we would be prepared to deal with it. i think that is just the kind of people marathon are. so thank you very much. [applause] >> sunday on "washington journal," author and christian science monitor editor davante chinni. later, author and sociology professor brian powell looks at america's changing view of what constitutes a family. our recent survey found that americans are more accepting of unmarried and same-sex couples raising children. plus, your e-mail and phone calls. "washington journal," like

sunday at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> sunday, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius talks about the new health care law, part of which goes into effect this thursday, september 23. she is interviewed she isadamy -- interviewed by susan adamy. >> bill quinn joins former british prime minister tony blair for discussion of their years in office. >> warren brown what -- writes a weekly column for "the washington post." >> it is arguable and justifiable that they have an argument to say we would not have a black middle-class had we not had general motors, ford,

and chrysler. >> in 2008, he supported the government bailout of the auto industry. you talk about his life and what is ahead for car makers on "q&a". >> in his weekly address, president obama calls on senate republicans to allow passage of the campaign finance bill that would require corporations, unions, and other groups to identify themselves in campaign ads. he is followed by the republican address by congressman greg walden, who urges house speaker nancy pelosi to allow an up or down vote on legislation that would cut government spending and stop what he calls tax hikes that are set to take effect on january 1. >> back in january, in my state of the union address, a ward of the danger posed by a supreme court ruling called citizens united. this decision overturns decades

of law. it gave the special interest the power to spend without limit and without public disclosure, to run ads in order to influence elections. now as an election approaches, it is not just the theory. we can see for ourselves how destructive to our democracy this can become. we have seen it in the flood of deceptive attack ads sponsored by special interest, using front ribs with misleading names. we all know who is behind these ads -- we don't know who is behind these ads are who is paying for them. they are able to swing freely and are to turn an election. voters are able to make an informed judgment about the group's motivations. anyone running these ads would have to stand by their claims, and foreign controlled corporations would be restricted from spending money to influence

elections, just as they were before the supreme court opened up this loophole. this is common sense. in fact, this is the kind of proposal that democrats and republicans have agreed on for decades. get the republican leaders in congress have so far said know. they have blocked this bill from even coming up for a vote in the senate. it is politics at its worst. it is not hard to understand why. over the past two years, we have fought back against the entrenched special interest, weakening their hold on the leaders of power in washington. have taken a stand against the worst abuses of the financial insurance industry. we have restored in for some of common-sense rules to protect clean air and clean water. we have refused to go along with business as usual. now, the special interests want to take congress back and returned to the days when lobbyist wrote the laws and a

partisan minority in congress is open their defense of the special interest and the status quo will be rewarded with a flood of negative ads against their opponents. it is a power grab, pure and simple. they are hoping they can ride this wave of unchecked influence all the way to victory. what is clear is that congress has responsibility to act. the truth is, any law, probably come too late to prevent the damage that has already been done this election season. that is why any time you see an attack ad by one of these shadowy groups, you should ask yourself, who is paying for this ad? is it the health insurance lobby, the oil industry, the credit card companies? more than that, you can make sure that the tens of millions of dollars spent on misleading ads don't drown out your voice, because no matter how many ads they run, no matter how many elections they try to buy, the power to determine the fate of this country does not lie in their hands. it lies in yours.

it is up to all of us to defend that most basic american principle of a government of, by, and for the people. what is at stake is not just an election, it is our democracy itself. thanks. >> hello, i am representative greg walden and i work for the people of oregon second congressional district. before being sent to congress, i work for myself. my wife and i were small- business owners for nearly 22 years. we know what it is like to sign the front of a payroll check and scratch out a business plan on the back of a napkin. it is this spirit that is lost to the powers in the in washington. comes in the form of monstrosities that transferred money from the people to the government in washington. people have had an up of government takeovers and spilled milk -- stimulus spending sprees. jocular and policies have left our small businesses tied up in

uncertainty and our economy bogged down by nearly 10% unemployment. america is speaking out, and it is time washington started listing. republicans have warned that excessive government spending, along with uncertainty facing small businesses, are hampering job creation in america and we have called for bipartisan action this month to address both these issues. first, republicans want to stop all the tax hikes that are set to take effect on january 1. for his part, president obama proposes raising taxes on half of small business income in america. economist and a growing chorus of democrats in congress agree with us that raising taxes on anyone in a struggling economy, especially small businesses, is the exact wrong thing to do. next come republicans want to cut nine security government spending to 2008 levels before all the bailout, before the ve