VIDEO: Representative Angie Craig Presses Oil Executives on High Prices at the Pump
Craig argued that oil companies have gone too far in pursuing record-breaking profits at the expense of working families in Minnesota
WASHINGTON, DC —Today, U.S. Representative Angie Craig pressed oil executives from the nation's largest oil companies about their efforts to lower prices at the pump for hardworking Americans. At an Energy and Commerce hearing, titled "Gouged at the Gas Station: Big Oil and America's Pain at the Pump," Craig questioned the executives about why, as the price of oil has dropped significantly in recent weeks, prices offered to customers at the pump have not followed suit. Craig also questioned the executives about their support of additional investments in renewable biofuels and pressed them to support the year-round sales of E15 – which she argued would ensure access to a homegrown energy source that costs as much as 50 cents less per gallon than traditional gasoline.
"The six oil companies testifying at today's hearing collectively generated more than $76 billion in profit in 2021 – and first quarter numbers look even higher for 2022," said Craig in her opening remarks. "In the meantime, Minnesota families are paying near-record high prices at the pump and my Republican colleagues are howling about energy independence when your industry has 9,000 oil leases given to you by the government that you aren't currently using This is another dumfounding day in Washington, truly."
"I don't fault you for making money. You're a business. But we've got a pandemic and we've got Putin. And you are using these crises to price gouge the American people. You are using these crises to gouge my constituents," Craig continued.
In the 117th Congress, Representative Craig has worked tirelessly to lower prices at the pump for Minnesota families. Last week, she led the bipartisan Co-Chairs of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus in a letter to the President requesting action to permit the summer-sales of E15 in order to lower average fuel prices across the country. In December 2021, she hosted USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Xochitl Torres Small in Cannon Falls, MN to discuss the importance of quickly implementing USDA's recently announced $100 million in biofuels infrastructure as a method of ensuring more Minnesotans have access to affordable biofuel blends like E15. And in November 2021, she sent a letter to President Biden urging him to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and reinstate a ban on crude oil exports to bring down high gasoline and fuel prices in the United States.
A full video of Representative Craig's opening remarks and questions are available here. You can also stream the entire Energy and Commerce hearing by clicking here.
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