Issue Position: Fighting for Wisconsin Families - Lower Gas Prices

Issue Position

Issue Position: Fighting for Wisconsin Families - Lower Gas Prices

Year after year, a springtime spike in gas prices hits consumers and small business owners with costs that are difficult to absorb. Congress and the Administration need to do all we can to monitor and control the variables that exist along the fuel distribution channel, to ensure that consumers are protected from unscrupulous profiteering that would add to the drain on their wallets.

As we all remember, in 2001, gas prices in the Midwest soared to more than $2 per gallon. When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began an investigation, prices went down almost overnight. The FTC reported last spring that some companies had indeed deliberately limited their supply of gas to create artificially high prices. Now, the cost of gasoline has begun to soar once again.

Along with Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), I recently contacted the chairman of the FTC to express concern about the surging prices of gasoline in the Midwest. We urged the FTC to carefully monitor and investigate any possible anti-consumer practices which could cause prices to spike prices even further. Wisconsinites deserve to know whether the recent increases have been caused by price-fixing or price-gouging by oil companies or gas stations.

Additionally, I recently joined Senator Russ Feingold in contacting Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham to urge the administration to assist in stabilizing and reducing the price of gasoline, diesel and other motor fuels sold in Wisconsin. We also asked that the administration devote resources to collecting motor fuel price information and combating potential profiteering should the price of gasoline increase as a result of military action in the Middle East.

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