Ted Strickland has joined 16 other Democratic governors in signing a letter to President Bush urging him to take action to help address rising prices at the pump.
The governors are asking the president to support federal legislation that would penalize gas-price gouging and order federal agencies to pursue anti-trust and commodities violations.
The letter from the governors also urges Bush to press oil companies to invest profits in expanding capacity at refineries, often blamed as a reason supplies aren't keeping pace with demand and causing prices to spike.
The governors also want more work done to pursue alternative energy sources and conservation.
Steve Chabot also sponsored legislation (H.R. 2264, passed yesterday by the House) to ease the gas price burden, but he didn't look to the President, the oil & gas companies, or the refiners. Chabot's bill (funnily called "NOPEC") would "make it illegal for countries to collude to artificially set high prices and limit the production of oil, natural gas, or any other petroleum product."
Chabot's press release does say “While it is important to target the anti-competitive practices of these price-fixing oil cartels, we must continue to press for increased domestic energy output, better alternative energy sources and greater energy efficiency.”
I'm sure he'll get right on that just as soon as his campaign donors start feeling the pinch as bad as Strickland's donors are.
3 comments:
We're going to make it illegal for other countries to do something?
WTF?
I also thought that was a peculiar way to phrase it. My understanding is that this bill would permit the U.S. to sue other countries.
I didn't look up the details because I don't know anything about international law. My uneducated guess is that the bill allows the U.S. to sue OPEC as if it were a company doing business in the U.S.
Isn't that similar to the Jesse Helms law about doing business with Cuba? Even if they sue and win, collecting anything is a stretch.
Post a Comment