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As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Tom Allen is working to ensure a brighter, cleaner, more efficient and affordable energy future. He believes that a comprehensive national energy policy is essential. America needs an energy policy that increases our national security, encourages new technologies, enhances economic growth, preserves the environment, and protects consumers.

Rep. Tom Allen believes we must take sensible, effective action on conservation and alternative, renewable sources of energy. The Democratic Congress is working hard to take steps towards these goals; however, fuel prices are still too high, and middle class families are struggling. Rep.

Rep. Allen announces legislation to lowerenergy prices at a press conference in Portland in May 2006.

Allen will continue to work for common sense energy policies that provide consumers with relief from high prices, assistance to small businesses and a reduction in our dependence on foreign oil. He will work for policies that increase investment in new technologies so that we can harness the power of American ingenuity to lead our nation to a cleaner, cheaper, and more sustainable path toward energy independence.

Legislation

Rep. Tom Allen’s Four Point Plan for Reducing Fuel Prices

With gasoline and heating oil prices soaring, Mainers are feeling the pinch. In November 2006, oil traded at around $58 per barrel; it now hovers near $100 per barrel. Last year, motorists paid $2.30 a gallon for regular gas; today they are lucky to fill their tanks for less than $3.50 a gallon. Last winter was relatively mild in Maine, and households could purchase fuel oil for around $2.20 a gallon. This winter, has been frigid, and heating oil prices are a staggering $3 or more per gallon. And yet, President Bush vetoed legislation that would have provided $2.4 billion for fuel assistance for the poor and the elderly because he claimed that the legislation contained “wasteful spending.” These skyrocketing prices and the President’s veto are cruel burdens for families whose incomes are stagnant or shrinking and whose costs for health insurance, college tuition and other everyday expenses are also growing faster than inflation. Rep. Tom Allen believes that a comprehensive response is needed to address these problems.

1. H.R. 1252, Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act

H.R. 1252, the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act provides the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with explicit authority to define price gouging and to investigate and punish those who artificially inflate the price of oil, natural gas, home-heating oil, crude oil, and propane. Current law is weak, both in its failure to define price gouging and to give the FTC the tools to prosecute profiteers at the top of the chain, like Exxon-Mobil. Stiff new civil penalties would make violators regret ever gouging a single Maine family. H.R. 1252 passed the House in May, but the allies of Big Oil have bogged down the bill in the Senate. This must end; a federal price gouging law is needed now to keep America and Maine working and warm.

2. Repeal huge tax breaks for Big Oil in the 2005 Bush-Cheney energy bill
These giveaways were a disgrace in 2005, when Rep. Allen voted against them. With the obscene profits energy companies report today, it is outrageous that American taxpayers are not only paying through the nose for fuel, but as taxpayers, subsidizing the industry. In January, the House repealed these unwarranted tax breaks. In the Senate, however, the friends of Big Oil have filibustered, refusing to allow the House-passed bill to come up.

3. H.R. 4066, The Close the Enron Loophole Act
H.R. 4066 would empower the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to expand regulation of energy commodities trading. It would provide transparency and oversight the CFTC needs to monitor these deals properly and prevent greedy speculators from manipulating the market. Increased oversight would restore confidence in the market, help eliminate unnecessary crude oil price inflation and rein in prices at the consumer level. Rampant market speculation contributed substantially to the conditions that led to the California and Enron scandals earlier this decade.

4. H.R. 2133, the Small Business Investment and Promotion Act
H.R. 2133, the Small Business Investment and Promotion Act creates a tax credit for eligible businesses to claim for any amount they spend on fuel over the price on Labor Day 2004, adjusted for inflation. It also raises the IRS Standard Mileage Rate to 60 cents for business owners who use their vehicles for business purposes. Rep. Allen’s bill will provide our small businesses a reprieve from the expenses spiking energy prices siphon from their bottom line.

Full text of H.R. 2133, the Small Business Investment and Promotion Act

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Rep. Allen is committed to making sure that Congress and the Administration fully fund the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program (LIHEAP). The program helps elderly and low-income families heat their homes. With significantly higher energy prices, the need for heating aid is greater than ever.

In Maine, the Maine State Housing Authority administers LIHEAP funds. Grants are given to individuals who qualify for assistance for use in purchasing heating oil or other fuels. If you need assistance with your heating bills this winter, please call my office at (207) 774-5019 (Portland) or (207) 283-8054 (Saco).

H.R. 6, the Energy Independence and Security Act

H.R. 6, which was signed into law on December 19, 2007, redirects our nation’s energy path away from dependence on costly, polluting fossil fuels and toward a cleaner, more efficient and more affordable energy future.

H.R. 6 will increase vehicle fuel efficiency standards for the first time in more than 20 years to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, reducing emissions while saving American families $700 to $1,000 a year. Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards for passenger cars had not been raised from their current standard of 27.5 miles per gallon since 1985. Due to loopholes in CAFE standards and the proliferation of SUVs, average fuel economy standards may have actually decreased below 1985 levels. This bill will change this and allow Americans to spend less on gasoline because their vehicles are more efficient.

The bill also improves efficiency standards for buildings and appliances that will save consumers more than $400 billion through 2030. These new efficiency standards will also decrease carbon dioxide emissions, a major cause of global warming, by more than ten billion tons. H.R. 6 will also create thousands of jobs in “green” technology fields. The bill promotes massive development of biofuels and provides for cutting-edge energy research. The bill expands the Renewable Fuels Standard to 36 billion gallons in 2022, forcing energy producers to include biofuels as a fuel source.

Press Releases