Santa Monica, CA — The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said legislation introduced today by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton is a wish list for refiners that have been profiteering off of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“Representative Barton’s legislation rolls out the red carpet for oil company profiteers who have intentionally reduced refining capacity to pump up profits to world record levels,” said FTCR president Jamie Court. “Since deregulation in 1982, oil consumption has increased 33 percent, but oil companies have reduced refining capacity by about 10 percent. The answer is not more carrots for the industry, like gutting environmental laws and immunizing companies for the harm they cause, but sticks such as forcing companies to invest in beefing up refining capacity when it is needed. We need supply side regulation, not more supply side economics.”
Read more on Court’s proposal.
Read internal company documents showing how oil companies reduced supply to drive up profits.
For more on FTCR, visit: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org
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