Those Gas Prices
By Senator Charles Schumer
Newsday, 4/23/08

Every New Yorker and every American has been struggling to heat their homes and fuel their cars this year, while oil companies are enjoying windfall profits. For Long Islanders, gas prices are 15 to 20 cents more per gallon than the national average. These skyrocketing prices and public outrage have now created a chance to finally force the changes we desperately need: anti-gouging protection for consumers, ending subsidies for Big Oil, energy market reform, and alternative energy to reduce reliance on foreign oil.

First, we must pass the "Close the Enron Loophole Act" to end the free pass traders enjoy to duck federal oversight while electronically trading energy futures. Next, we must hold oil companies accountable for egregious profits they are making by offering gas price relief to consumers - paid for with windfall oil company profits and stopping subsidies to Big Oil. In the long term, we must devote far more focus and resources to developing alternative energy sources.

With the resolve of the people and the leadership of the federal government, we can finally embark on a new era of energy use that won't leave Long Island families stuck between an empty gas tank and a hard place