Holding Big Oil accountable for price gouging

Press Release

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree backs legislation to protect consumers and small gas stations from big oil companies that exploit crisis for profit.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said this morning she has cosponsored legislation to hold federal big oil companies accountable for exploiting oil crisis for profit through price gouging.

"During the latest oil crisis, consumers have found skyrocketing gas prices unbearable, and it's going to continue to get worse this summer," Pingree said. "Right now there's not much to stop big oil companies from using our numbness at the pump to increase the price a few cents more for their gain. We need to make sure companies aren't exploiting bad market conditions for extra profit. It's unfair to consumers who rely on this resource and it's damaging to the recovering economy."

The legislation empowers the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to institute civil and criminal penalties for unjustifiably excessive prices during periods the President proclaims as an international crisis affecting oil markets. Fines would be up to $100 million for civil penalties, and $500 million for criminal. The FTC would give enforcement priority to companies with total gasoline sales of over $10 billion a year.

"This is not about going after corner gas stations, the vast majority of which perform an honest and vital service for our communities," said Pingree. "This legislation is about protecting those small businesses from the big companies who would gouge them and make it even harder to meet their bottom line. Consumers and local dealers are both hurt when we let big oil take advantage of them."

Pingree has supported a number of steps to deal with skyrocketing gas and heating oil prices in the short term, including releasing oil from the strategic oil reserve and taking proposed heating assistance budget cuts off the table.

"These short-term efforts are critical to helping people during this crisis, but we need to work much harder to stop them altogether. That means further steps to make our country more energy efficient and developing clean energy from renewable resources," said Pingree. "I'm very disappointed that so many of my colleagues are instead proposing an agenda to make us even more dependent on oil by cutting funds for weatherization and clean energy. If anything, this crisis shows us we need to move away from this volatile, dwindling, and increasingly expensive resource."

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