U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
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Office of Senator Russ Feingold | 202/224-5323

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As Americans continue to face high gas prices, Congress needs to prevent gas price gouging and advance long-term solutions to high fuel costs, including diversifying our fuel sources.

I have long supported legislation to protect consumers from getting gouged at the pump by oil and gas companies. In May 2007, I cosponsored the Petroleum Consumer Price Gouging Protection Act to outlaw price gouging during national emergencies and impose tough criminal penalties on violators. I was pleased to see these provisions included in the Senate energy bill passed in June 2007.

Congress must also prevent the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from manipulating the oil market. This is why I am a cosponsor of the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act. This bill would authorize the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to sue foreign countries under U.S. antitrust law for fixing the price of oil.

In the long run, the solution to high gas prices is to reduce our country’s demand for oil. The Senate energy bill moves our country in this direction by improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewable fuels. This bill raises national energy efficiency standards for lighting, appliances, and government buildings, and raises the amount of the country’s fuel that must come from renewable sources from 8.5 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons in 2022.

View a letter several of my fellow Senators and I sent to our Senate colleagues urging cosponsorship of the Oil and Gas Traders Oversight Act of 2007, which would increase federal oversight of our energy markets in order to prevent price manipulation, a known contributor to the rise in oil and natural gas prices.

   


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