Bernie Sanders calls for Federal Intervention on Energy Costs

[Armstead]

http://bernie.house.gov/documents/articles/20050901101009.asp

9/1/2005, Rutland Herald
Sanders calls for federal intervention
by Louis Porter

MONTPELIER — The federal government must deal with fuel prices that soared over $3 per gallon at some Vermont gas stations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, according to Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt.

Sanders, who met with Vermont fuel dealers, said at the Statehouse on Wednesday that more fuel should be released from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves and pressure should be put on Mideast nations to increase production and reduce costs.

Sanders called the decline in production of gasoline and particularly fuel oil a "national emergency" with winter bearing down on the Northeast.

It's "an emergency that the president and the U.S. Congress have got to address boldly," he said.

Unless the amount of federal money flowing the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is increased Vermonters and others will not be able to afford heating oil this winter, Sanders said.

Last year, about $2.2 billion was spent on LIHEAP. At least $4 billion will be needed this year just to keep up with the increase in fuel prices, Sanders said.

"Unless we substantially increase the funding for LIHEAP you are going to see a lot of people go cold in America," he said.....


"Now is the time to remind Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that it was America and American lives that protected their countries," Sanders said.

Congress must also investigate large gasoline corporations to make sure they are not price-gouging, Sanders said.

"Congress has got to take a close look at that," he said. "It's no great secret that the oil industry is making huge profits."

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