| WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today said that while
Big Oil hit the jackpot last year, consumers were being gouged at the gas
pump. Schakowsky pointed to the more than doubling of profits by
oil giants Exxon Mobil, Texaco, Inc., and Chevron Corporation last year,
according to Fortune magazine’s list of the top 500 U.S. companies.
The Fortune 500 list ranked Exxon Mobil on top, while Texaco, Inc., and
Chevron Corporation were ranked 16th and 20th, respectively.
“Guess
who’s on top: Big Oil. Consumers in Chicago and the Midwest paved
the way for Big Oil’s record profits last year. Oil companies are
getting even richer, while my constituents struggled to pay burdensome
energy prices and make ends meet. And there is no relief in sight,”
Schakowsky said.
Schakowsky
warned that consumers in Chicago and the Midwest could be faced once again
with more than $2 a gallon at the gas pump unless the federal government
intervenes. According to a Federal Trade Commission report released
last week, “…[p]rice spikes are likely to occur in the future in the Midwest
and other areas of the country.”
She
once again called on President Bush and Vice President Cheney to use their
close ties to the oil and gas industry to urge them not to take in excessive
profits that will force consumers to pay burdensome prices. In January,
Schakowsky had sent a letter to then President-Elect Bush urging him to
meet with energy industry executives.
“The
Bush administration should take this matter seriously. Instead of
catering to the needs of oil companies, the President should design an
energy policy that is meant to help the people who pay the bills,” Schakowsky
said.
“The
President can begin by persuading his friends in the oil and gas business
to take in a little less profit so that consumers can afford to drive their
cars and heat their homes,” Schakowsky concluded. |
