State Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance) responded to the news that conservative advocacy group Freedom's Watch would be running radio ads against him over the next several weeks that hit him on the issue of inaction to lower gas prices, just as robocalls from the group did last month.

The Boccieri camp said that the group is blaming Boccieri for high gas prices that he opposed.

"I thank Freedom's Watch for giving me one more chance to tell people about my fight against Ohio gas tax increases and my plan to immediately lower fuel costs," Boccieri said in response to the ad. "I'm just wondering when they'll finally get around to having voters call Kirk Schuring and ask him why he raised their gas taxes."

The reference is to Schuring's vote to support the 2003 transportation bill that included a 2-cent raise in the state gas tax each year for three years, making a total 6-cent raise in Ohio's gas tax. The measure was supported by former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and a plurality of Republican members of the state legislature at the time. The gas tax was one part of an overall $5.9 billion transportation package.

The goal of the increase was to secure an additional $250 million annually for Ohio Department of Transportation road and bridge construction projects and $289 million for local projects. Seven Ohio senate Republicans did vote against the measure. Boccieri voted against the Ohio House version.

"My energy plan would bring down gas prices immediately by releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, closing legal loopholes for energy speculators, and making oil companies drill on the untapped U.S. lands and coastal waters they already control," Boccieri continued. "We also need a rapid transition to home-grown alternative energy sources that would create thousands of green-collar Ohio jobs while freeing America from dependence on oil forever."

The Boccieri camp additionally pointed out that Freedom's Watch is the project of Las Vegas mogul Sheldon Adelson, a well-known conservative.

"This big-money Washington special interest group doesn't really care about our high fuel costs - they're just trying to elect one more George Bush-style politician who's taken tens of thousands of dollars from oil executives and will do their bidding in Congress," Boccieri said.

The nation's energy dilemma has been an issue of contention in the race for Ohio's 16th Congressional seat to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula. The Schuring and Boccieri energy plans can be found here, and here, respectively.