Markey Decries Rising Gas Prices, ‘Record’ Oil Profits
US Representative Edward Markey (D-Malden) at the Medford Getty Gas Station on Main Street on Wednesday afternoon. Courtesy photo.
With regular gasoline now averaging $3.88 per gallon across the United States, escalating gas prices could be the difference between an economy that continues to recover and an economy that sinks back into recession. The major oil companies are expected this week to announce record-breaking profits, yet the rest of America is suffering pain at the pump as a result of speculators, Middle East unrest, and Republican efforts to block clean energy legislation that would help get the country off foreign oil and end subsidies for oil companies.
High oil prices contributed to a slip in growth for the American economy over the last three months, according to the Treasury Dept. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil just reported profits of nearly $11 billion in the first quarter of 2011, a 69 percent increase over the first quarter from 2010. Shell reported an increase of 22 percent to $6.9 billion in the same time period. Along with BP and ConocoPhillips, four of the five largest oil companies have now reported nearly $30 billion in profits in just the first quarter of 2011.
Responding to these divergent numbers for the American people and oil company shareholders, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, said today that this weeks’ oil company profit reports, combined with the high price of oil, shows that tax breaks for oil companies aren’t needed and should be eliminated to save taxpayers money and moved to develop clean energy alternatives to reduce America’s dependence on oil.
“In just the first 3 months of the year, Exxon has earned more profits than all of the tax breaks given to the major oil companies in an entire year,†said Rep. Markey. “There is absolutely no reason to continue to subsidize the most profitable companies in the history of the world. What is good for the biggest oil companies isn’t always what’s good for American taxpayers. The American people are getting tipped upside down at the pump, then asked to fork over whatever change they have left to subsidize these oil behemoths.â€
“Speaker Boehner must bring legislation to the floor next week that will cut these tax breaks once and for all,†said Rep. Markey. “As Big Oil is reaching into one pocket of consumers at the pump, they are reaching into the other pocket through the tax code. At $112 dollars a barrel, the biggest oil companies don’t need 100 year-old tax breaks to potentially make more than $100 billion in profits this year alone.â€
Rep. Markey and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) have introduced legislation to cut the budget by ending roughly $40 billion over five years in wasteful subsidies to the oil industry. The “Ending Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act†(H.R. 601) eliminates subsidies that have worsened the deficit, weakened our energy security, undermined our ability to drive investment in sources of renewable energy, and damaged the environment.
This week, Speaker John Boehner indicated that he is open to cutting some of these tax breaks.
– Statement from Rep. Markey
Each time gasoline reaches absorbent prices, government officials request an investigation into price gouging by owners, or speculators; yet, it always has came out no. Now Congressman Edward Markey is calling for cutting the tax breaks for oil companies. As the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, Rep Markey, and Democratic Massachusetts Congressional Delegation and Senators have help stop the production of oil domestically for forty years. If Rep. Markey and elected government officials allowed private investors to explore and produce oil relief each time there was gasoline absorbent prices, the country would have enough oil drilling and oil refinery already built here, instead of the United States paying billions of dollars in the far-east to protect our large transportation commodity. Other country’s would have to intercede and pay to cover the cost to protect their oil needs.
Rep Markey along with the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, Senators and attorneys, should save the gouging inquiry and tax breaks rhetoric and stop their prohibition on domestic Oil. In addition, they should stop the EPA and its burdensome regulation that obstruct companies from oil drilling and constructing oil refineries to develop oil production domestically.
The country’s investors should find all sources of affordable energy; and, while they research and develop clean, renewable energy sources to help ease the domestic energy problem, it is time to do what we know works. So, while pursing safe and responsible production of oil domestically, we already know that domestic oil drilling and oil refining more oil into gasoline is safe and responsible. As the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, Rep Markey, along with the Massachusetts Congressional delegation and Senators should prohibit the EPA from stopping companies from drilling and building refinery here that will develop oil production and good paying oil jobs domestically.
That’s the Medford Gas station in the photo, not the Getty station, which is up Main Street.