To the Point

Rising Oil and Gasoline Prices

In the United States, gas prices have soared to over $3 a gallon. Many Europeans and Asians are paying $5 to $6 a gallon--and there appears to be no end in sight. Increasing demand in the US, China and India, political unrest in Nigeria, strained relations with Iran and hurricane-damaged refineries in America are responsible for part of the surge. Although President Bush yesterday outlined short-term measures to bring that pump price down, energy economists say there's no quick fix to the problem of global supply-and-demand. Guest host Diana Nyad explores the politics and practicalities of combating soaring oil prices. Making News: Fox TV Pundit to Be New White House Press Secretary Fox News radio and television commentator, Tony Snow, was named today by President Bush as his new Press Secretary. Introducing Snow to the White House press corps this morning, the President called it his job to make policy and Snow's to sell it. Richard Wolffe, senior White House correspondent for Newsweek magazine, has a journalist's perspective on the President's choice.Reporter's Notebook: The Nuclear Lessons of ChernobylChernobyl Nuclear Reactor Number 4 exploded 20 years ago today. The human suffering that ensued--and continues to this day--is incalculable. We will never know how many people died and were sickened by direct radiation exposure and environmental after-effects of the disaster. Charles Ferguson, a fellow for science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations, says the tragedy holds great lessons for our pursuit of nuclear power.