WASHINGTON -- U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) reintroduced legislation last week to address rising gasoline prices. The legislation would increase fuel efficiency standards as well as lower prices by cracking down on price gouging by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), imposing a windfall profits tax and increasing competition in the oil industry, among other measures.
DeFazio's legislation, the Gasoline Price Stabilization Act of 2007, is an updated version of legislation he originally introduced in March 2003.
"We need both short-term measures to protect consumers and businesses from skyrocketing prices at the pump, and longer-term proposals to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and promote alternative technologies," DeFazio said. "The House recently approved an Energy Bill that would repeal a variety of oil industry giveaways and use that money to significantly boost the federal investment in alternative and renewable fuels, energy efficiency and conservation programs. This is a great start, but we must do more to ensure that oil companies are not gouging consumers at the pump while waiting for these longer-term efforts to bear fruit."
The DeFazio legislation includes several short-term and long-term proposals to protect consumers and to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign sources of oil:
Requires the president to file a trade complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against OPEC for illegally colluding to raise oil prices, which violates global trade rules. Imposes a windfall profits tax on oil companies to decrease the incentive to gouge consumers. Authorizes the use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), as needed, to combat market manipulation and supply problems. Releasing oil from the federal stockpile will help ensure that supply disruptions (whether artificial or real) don't lead to price spikes. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to establish minimum inventory levels for producers, refiners and marketers of crude oil and petroleum products to limit the impact unexpected supply disruptions have on prices. Puts a moratorium on oil company mergers. It also creates a commission to investigate the impact mergers are having on prices and to make recommendations to restore competition in the petroleum industry. Establishes a commission to study and report on the concentration of ownership of all aspects of exploring, refining, distributing and selling crude oil and petroleum products. Mandates the average fuel economy standards to be increased to 37 mpg by 2017 and 40 mpg by 2022. Requires the federal fleet of vehicles achieve an average fuel economy that is higher than the baseline average. The federal fleet would have to achieve a fuel economy of three miles per gallon higher than the average by 2010, and six miles per gallon higher than the average by 2013.DeFazio is also a cosponsor of two other bills to deal with gasoline pricesH.R. 594, which would regulate currently unregulated oil trading, and H.R. 1252, which would establish a federal prohibition against price gouging enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general.
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