Kerry Statement on Impact of Gas Prices on Middle Class and Saudi Gas Pledge
news.yahoo.com
LAKE WORTH, Fla., April 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- During a town hall meeting in Florida today where he outlined the relief he offers middle-class families struggling to keep up, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry made the following statement in response to reports that Saudi Prince Bandar pledged to wait to boost oil production and lower gas prices until before the November election:
"Right now there are people all over this country who are literally going through their purses and their pocketbooks -- looking behind the sofa, under the cushions -- to find the pennies and the extra money to be able to pay the additional costs of gasoline. They are giving up choices for their kids, giving up choices for their families to pay the extra $30-$50 a week in order to be able to pay for gas. Those aren't Exxon gas prices we see ladies and gentleman, those are Halliburton prices and we deserve a break in this country.
"Unlike George Bush and his friends at the Big Oil Companies, I'm going to work for a real energy policy for this country that decreases America's dependence on foreign oil and helps lower the costs to American families."
THE FACTS:
Consumers Paying at the Pump Now. According to Bob Woodward, Saudi Prince Bandar pledged to boost oil production and lower gas prices before the election. Instead of pushing the Saudis now to boost production, this secret deal has cost US consumers literally billions of dollars in higher gas prices. (Reuters, 60 Minutes 4/18/04)
Bush's Refusal to Take On the Saudis Has Cost Americans $24 Billion This Year Alone
-- Economist David Rosenberg told CNN's Lou Dobbs that "pain at the pump has wiped out more than $20 billion of the coming $40 billion in tax refund checks." How? On January 5, consumers paid $1.51 for an average gallon of gas. As of today -- less than three months later they're paying $1.75 per gallon, a 24 cent increase since January. According to the Wall Street Journal, "every penny increase in a gallon of gas costs consumers $1 billion a year." That's a $24 billion gas tax hike this year alone.
-- But that's not all: nationwide gas prices have risen 12 percent since 2000, and are expected to skyrocket upward to $1.83 a gallon this summer -- a 17 percent increase since Bush took office.
-- Guy Caruso, the administrator of the Energy Information Administration told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that an average family will spend about $1,700 for gas in 2004. At today's gas prices, this means that an average family will spend over $300 more for gas than they would have if prices were at the level they were the week Bush took office. (Sources: David Rosenberg, CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, 3/22/04; Energy Information Association, tonto.eia.doe.gov; AAA, fuelgaugereport.com; Wall Street Journal, 3/24/04; Reuters, 3/9/04, via CNN Money; Energy Information Administration, eia.doe.gov; Guy Caruso, Testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, 3/4/04; Energy Information Administration data)
In a December 2003 Speech, Kerry Said He Had "Specific Concerns" With Saudi Arabia; Called for a New Energy Policy. In his speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Kerry said in regards to Saudi Arabia, "we have deep, and for the moment inescapable ties - corporate and energy dependence -- that complicates our relationship with significantly. And that is why we must adopt a new energy policy for America and create a real partnership against terror which is in the best long-term Saudi interests as well." ( johnkerry.com )
The Kerry Plan for Energy Independence. Kerry has outlined a comprehensive energy plan that will tap America's initiative and ingenuity to strengthen our national security, grow our economy, and protect our environment. Kerry's plan will increase and enhance domestic energy sources and provide incentives to help Americans use energy more cleanly and efficiently. When sixty-five percent of the world's oil reserves lie beneath the Persian Gulf states and only 3 percent lie beneath America, we cannot drill our way to independence. We can, however, develop and deploy clean energy technologies that will make us more efficient and allow us to capitalize on domestic and renewable sources of energy. John Kerry's plan for a renewable energy trust fund to invest in the development of renewable energy will reduce our oil dependence by more than 2 million barrels of oil a day - about the same amount we import from the Persian Gulf. Kerry's plan will also create 500,000 new jobs over the next decade and work toward producing 20 percent of US energy from renewable fuels by 2020. |
