“People throughout Massachusetts are breaking the bank to fill their gas tanks, while oil companies reap windfall profits. That’s just plain wrong. That’s why I’m asking the federal government to investigate why prices have increased so dramatically,” said Senator Kerry. “This crisis is yet another reminder of Washington’s glaring inaction about our nation’s dependence on oil. It’s long past time to get serious about making America energy independent. This ongoing crisis hits people in the wallets, threatens our entire economy, degrades our environment and compromises our national security.”
As the Senator points out in his statement, and as most folks are painfully aware, gas prices are hitting us all in the pocketbook. In 2004, gas prices were a campaign issue at $1.77/gal. Less than four years later, at an average $3.11/gal., nothing is being done by this administration or its lockstep Republican apologists to address the impact of oil dependency on the American public. We need a Congress and an administration that will look for answers that benefit the vast majority of Americans, not just a few greedy oil execs. It's long past time for us to insist that the people we elect to represent us actually represent us, and that the ones who don't find another line of work.
The public's best interest is what we should be concerned with, not Exxon's record profits, as thatguitarman reminds us in song.
Video Credit: thatguitarman
But the issue is not just prices, it's also the impact on the climate and our national security. The solution to our energy problems is innovation and conservation, not drilling and killing.
Senator Kerry is spending part of the Senate recess doing his homework on how some Massachusetts businesses are helping to "invent our way out" of our dependence on foreign oil. Kerstin posted yesterday about the Senator's visit to Ze-gen, a company that converts construction and demolition waste and municipal solid waste into near zero-emissions syngas and electrical energy. Today, the Senator is checking out Acumentrics, another Massachusetts company that is using innovative technology to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and strengthen our economy. These companies are proving that alternative energy and conservation isn't just good for the environment, it's good for the economy, and that investing in 'green' technology isn't just for tree-huggers like me. It's also for people interested in making a profit without destroying the planet. Like me.
In addition to the statement released by Senator Kerry yesterday, he sent a letter to Comptroller General Walker of the GAO urging an investigation into gasoline price gouging.
January 8, 2008The Honorable David Walker
Government Accountability Office
441 G St., NW
Washington, DC 20548Dear Comptroller General Walker,
In November of last year, I wrote to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Deborah Majoras to express my concern regarding reports of gasoline price manipulation in my home state of Massachusetts. This letter was sent in response to concerns expressed by several mayors in Cities and towns across western Massachusetts, who cited significant variations in gasoline prices.
In the months that have followed, concerns on the part of local officials have persisted. While the FTC’s Gasoline and Diesel Price Monitoring Project analyzes price movements across the nation, the Commission acknowledges that its analysis and subsequent findings are based on “trends in average area prices”, and are “not adequate to answer questions about pricing by individual stations or individual wholesale marketers”.
Many of the concerns we are hearing relate to the behavior of individual stations, and despite the continued efforts of the FTC, I believe an independent audit of individual retailer behavior conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office would play an integral role in assessing whether or not price gouging is occurring in Western Massachusetts as well as other parts of the country.
In response to the ongoing concerns expressed by the mayor of North Adams and by other western Massachusetts communities, I respectfully request that you initiate an investigation of reported gasoline price gouging in the western part of the state and in similar rural parts of the country.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Should you have any questions regarding the nature of this request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
John Kerry
United States Senate
