DeWine Voted to Boost Oil Company Profits Instead of Lowering Gas Prices
DeWine Voted to Boost Oil Company Profits Instead of Lowering Gas Prices
This week, the Senate will consider legislation that would expand oil and gas drilling off America's coasts. Even though President Bush declared that America was "addicted to oil" in his State of the Union speech, Bush and Senator Mike DeWine have promoted increased oil production and consumption.
Senator DeWine has voted to keep oil consumption at record highs and to increase the profit margins flowing into the coffers of the oil executives. He voted against developing measures to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil by 2025. He supported increased drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico, and voted to expand offshore drilling on America's coastlines. Senator DeWine has accepted more than $330,000 in contributions from oil and gas companies and helped push their legislative agenda through Congress.
"Senator DeWine has fed America's addiction to oil. He failed to reduce the pain consumers are facing at the pump. Instead, he voted to give billions of taxpayer dollars to the same oil and gas companies that reported record profits last year," said Congressman Sherrod Brown. "As commuters struggled to fill their tanks last summer, Mike DeWine voted for legislation that made the energy crisis facing America worse."
DeWine voted in favor of the Energy Policy Act, which provided billions of dollars in subsidies and giveaways to the energy industry. The average price of a regular gallon of gasoline in Ohio was $2.23 in July 2005 when the Energy Policy Act passed. Today it is $2.97.
High oil and gas prices are causing a ripple effect throughout Ohio's economy. High oil prices have increased the cost of asphalt and construction, slowing road repair. Fuel-dependent businesses like the transportation and the restaurant industry are raising their prices. With a higher cost of living across the board, middle class families are struggling to pay higher energy bills coupled with the increased costs of health care and education.
"Ohioans are feeling the burn of President Bush and Senator DeWine's just drill it' energy policy. Our oil imports and our consumption are at record highs, but Senator DeWine has voted to extract some of our last oil reserves. Instead of working to create jobs and reduce prices through investment in biofuel production in Ohio, Mike DeWine has let the energy industry CEOs dictate his policy."
As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Brown is a leading advocate of making Ohio the Silicon Valley of the Midwest. Brown supported amendments to the Energy Policy Act that would establish a national ethanol mandate. He wrote to Ford Chairman Bill Ford and Energy Secretary Bodman to encourage the development of fuel-flexible vehicles which can run on E85 and encouraged investment in biodiesel and fuel cell production in Ohio.
http://sherrodbrown.com/press/releases/397/