Woodbridge, NJ – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today held a press conference hailing House passage of the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act that will help put an end to price gouging at the gas pump and protect consumers. It will also empower the federal government to penalize market manipulators and bring more transparency to the secretive oil and gas market. As Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Pallone spearheaded passage of the bill and spoke on the House floor yesterday in support of the bill.
As hardworking Americans struggle to make ends meet, four of the largest Big Oil companies together made $27 billion in profits during the first quarter of 2022 while not increasing production sufficiently to meet demand.
“At a time when New Jerseyans are paying record high prices for gas, Big Oil is taking advantage of Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine and our ongoing economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to rake in record profits. These companies are more interested in funneling billions to their shareholders and executives instead of addressing high gas prices. They are manipulating the market by deliberately keeping production low, keeping both prices and their profits high.” Pallone said. “This is exactly why the House took action this week. The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act will empower the Federal Trade Commission to go after fuel wholesalers and retailers for price gouging. We must put an end to Big Oil’s scheme to rip off the American people.”
“We are pleased that Representative Pallone's bill to protect working families from price gouging at the hands of Big Oil has passed the House of Representatives,” said New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Executive Director Ed Potosnak. “Major corporations shouldn't be using the crisis in Ukraine as an excuse to rake in record profits. And while this bill is a good first step in protecting consumers, we need to wean ourselves off foreign oil and switch to electric vehicles and other sustainable transit options to lower costs in the long run. That's why we're proud to have stood with the Congressman when he worked to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law last year, which invested billions of dollars in expanding access to clean, electric vehicles and mass transit, and why we continue to fight alongside him to enact President Biden's climate agenda.”
The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act would be the first-ever federal law against price gouging. Specifically, it would:
●Give the Federal Trade Commission the power to issue penalties to fuel wholesalers and retailers for price gouging;
●Grant the president the power to declare an ‘energy emergency proclamation;’
●Make it illegal to sell consumer fuels (car fuel, aviation fuel, and home heating oil and liquid propane) at an excessive and exploitative price during an energy emergency;
●Double the maximum penalty for manipulating wholesale oil markets to up to $2 million a day for each violation; and
●Improve market transparency and competition by directing the Energy Information Administration to collect public information related to the quality and pricing of transportation fuels to facilitate transparency, fair competition, and compliance with relevant international sanctions.
More information about the bill is available here.
Original source can be found here.
