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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."
Clicking here will add your name:
http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/one_click_sign.pl?id=10386-8044979-OuZU9x&t=3
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?
Clicking here will add your name:
http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/o.pl?id=10386-8044979-OuZU9x&t=4
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, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2595&id=10386-8044979-OuZU9x&t=5
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=10386-8044979-OuZU9x&t=6
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=10386-8044979-OuZU9x&t=7
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