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For car owners, filling up the tank is often a part of a weekly routine. And as many have noticed, gas prices are on the rise. Drivers are reaching deeper and deeper into their pockets to spend over $3 a gallon at the pump. And prices could go beyond $4 a gallon this summer unless something is done.
That’s why, as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, I introduced the bipartisan No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act (NOPEC). It would authorize our government, for the first time, to take action against illegal conduct of the OPEC oil cartel. The NOPEC bill would establish clearly and plainly that when a group of competing oil producers - like the OPEC nations - act together to restrict supply or fix prices, they are violating U.S. law. I recently raised the subject of increased oil prices with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at a Senate Banking Committee hearing to gain insight about current efforts to curb rising oil and gas prices. It is time for the U.S. government to fight back against efforts to fix the price of oil and hold OPEC accountable when it acts illegally.
Late last year, OPEC ministers indicated that they may decide against an increase in output in 2011, saying that the world economy can tolerate a $100 per barrel price.
Months later, that prediction has come true, and the price of oil has once again topped $100-a-barrel. This is the highest price since the summer of 2008 when gas prices exceeded $4-a-gallon, squeezing family budgets and threatening business profits.
It is clear that the global oil cartel remains a major force conspiring to raise oil prices to the detriment of American consumers. When the price of crude oil rises as a result of these actions by OPEC, there is no doubt that millions of American consumers feel the pinch every time they visit the gas pump. This is why I am working with members of both parties to end oil price fixing and decrease the cost of oil and gasoline.
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Cute name, anyway. NOPEC - sort of like NOBAMA.
I sent him this:
Hi, Herb,
I just got your email about high gas prices.
Instead of a law prosecuting "illegal" (under whose laws?) OPEC machinations, why not a bipartisan law removing all the restraints on domestic production your party and Mr. Obama have passed?
Drill baby, drill! NOW!!!
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Even before I saw your response, I said to myself- 'that guy has to be a Democrat'.
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