MoveOn takes on Big Oil

I know there are skeptics out there, but with my work in MomsRising.org and as a MoveOn.org member, I've seen online petitions really work-- especially when 14,000 signatures are printed out and dragged onto the Senate floor.

Because of that, I'm putting their petition up here. The oil industry is out of control in this country, and I don't mean in a hooray-for-the-free-market way. As I said to some friends, if this were cheese or chocolate, I'd say hooray for your profits. But as long as we're talking about a commodity upon which our economy is so dependent, upon which everyday individuals are so dependent, (unfortunately), until there's an easily accessible alternative (go alt energy research scientists!!!)-- we have to sensibly regulate this crazy industry. And really, making *price gouging* of gas a federal crime is the least we can do. I honestly would have thought it already was, but...

Thus:

Dear MoveOn member,

As of yesterday, gas prices are the highest in U.S. history—we just passed the 1981 record, even adjusted for inflation.1 Prices could reach $4.00 per gallon in parts of the country, just in time to crimp summer vacation plans. As consumers suffer, the oil industry continues to reap the windfall—breaking profit records on an almost quarterly basis. It's outrageous!

Enough is enough. Hearings start today on H.R. 1252, a House bill that would make gas price gouging a federal crime, punishable by 10 years in prison. Speaker Pelosi has said she'll move the bill to a vote this week—if there's the two-thirds majority required to fast track the bill through the process.2

Oil company lobbyists are frantically trying to stop the bill. Your representative needs to hear from you today. Will you sign our petition asking Congress to pass the price-gouging bill—and then send it to your friends?
"Gasoline price gouging should be made a federal crime before the summer price increases hurt more American families."
Sign the petition:http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/?rc=oil_petition&id=10387-1221991-QrcoOS&t=4

Rep Bart Stupak (D-MI), sponsor of the House bill said this of his motivation to introduce the legislation:
"In April ... crude oil was $7 a barrel cheaper than last year (but) gas prices were almost 50 cents a gallon higher. Clearly there's more at play than simply the world crude oil market."3

In April, more than two-thirds of Americans reported that their gas bills were causing financial crunches, with a full third saying it was having a "serious" impact on their families.4

That same month, the top two US companies, Exxon-Mobil and Chevron-Texaco, announced a combined $14 billion in first quarter profits.5

It seems like even the oil industry has gone too far this time, and it's time to balance the scales. The Senate passed a price-gouging measure out of committee last week, and the House bill now has over 100 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.

The oil industry is nervous. They've sent their lobbyists to the Hill in full force to stop—or at least weaken—these bills, and they're pulling out all the stops. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry front group of more than 400 oil and gas companies, even threatened that new laws could increase gas prices more.6

Enough is enough. This summer, we can stop Big Oil from profiting at the expense of American families. Can you sign the petition to ask your representative to make gasoline a price gouging a federal crime now?
Sign the petition:http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/?rc=oil_petition&id=10387-1221991-QrcoOS&t=5
Don't forget to pass it on to your friends—this week is an historic opportunity to send Big Oil a message that we've had enough.
Thanks for all you do.
–Ilyse, Natalie, Eli, Tom, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007

Sources:
1. "U.S. gas prices jump more than 11 cents," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 21, 2007http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2595&id=10387-1221991-QrcoOS&t=6
2. "Debate on [H.R. 1252], offered by Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, D-Mich., will kick off Tuesday with a hearing in Stupak's subcommittee. It is possible that an Energy and Commerce markup will follow. But Democratic leaders might opt to bring the bill up to the floor under suspension of House rules by Wednesday."Excerpted from National Journal's Congress Daily, Monday, May 21, 2007
3. "Lawmaker Links Gas Prices to Investments," Houston Chronicle, May 16, 2007 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4810598.html
4. "As Gas Prices Rise Again, Democrats Blame Big Oil," Washington Post, May 11, 2007 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2591&id=10387-1221991-QrcoOS&t=7
5. "Lawmaker Links Gas Prices to Investments," Houston Chronicle, May 16, 2007 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4810598.html
6. "Lawmakers' blood pressure rises with prices at the pump," TheHill.com, May 17, 2007 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2586&id=10387-1221991-QrcoOS&t=8
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