Consumers Confronted With High Gas, Heating Prices While Bush Protects Oil Interests

WASHINGTON (November 3, 2007) – By threatening to veto the energy bill unless the Congress gives in to his demands that the oil industry be protected in spite of soaring oil prices and profits, President Bush has yet again shown his firm allegiance to the oil industry and rejection of the hard choices American families are being forced to make, Rep. Edward J. Markey said today.

“American families are looking at their energy bills, the prices at the pump, and saying ‘ouch,’” said Markey, who is chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “President Bush is looking at near 100 dollar oil, 3 dollar gas and heating oil, and steps he could take to help in the short and long term, and all he can say is ‘veto.’”

After a week of record high oil prices that continues to drive up the cost of heating oil, gasoline, and other commodities, Rep. Markey noted that the administration is talking about vetoing the energy bill if the oil industry is not allowed to continue receiving high tax subsidies while still charging high prices. In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the energy bill currently being considered in Congress, the president said he would veto any bill that would “raise taxes [or] use the tax code to single out specific industries.”

The current version of the House energy bill would shift unneeded subsidies from oil and gas and spend the revenues on moving to renewable energy. It would also recover $10 billion in royalties that went unpaid by  oil companies, and fix federal law so that the Attorney General can pursue price gouging by unscrupulous oil companies.

“The President acts like the oil industry can't survive if it loses a single dollar of tax subsidies while profiting from runaway oil prices,” continued Markey. “Meanwhile, the country is held hostage by OPEC because the President says he will veto the energy bill. The American public needs to know that this president would rather protect oil company subsidies than move to a future of efficient cars, renewable electricity and clean fuels.”

The Senate energy bill includes an increase in fuel economy to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, and a boost in the use of renewable fuels like ethanol to 36 billion gallons. If the House and Senate bills were combined, the legislation would save more than twice the amount of oil America currently imports from the Persian Gulf, by 2030.

“The president says he wants to end our addiction to oil, but apparently now is not a convenient time for him and his oil interests to start moving America along the path towards oil sobriety,” said Markey. “You can't preach temperance from a bar stool, and the president is keeping the oil flowing and the solutions stopped up.”

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