February 1, 2008

Washington, DC—Nevada Senator Harry Reid made the following statement today in response to the release of annual profits from ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, ChevronTexaco and ConocoPhillips: 

“While middle-class Americans’ wages decrease and their costs increase on everything from filling up their cars to heating their homes, today we learn that Big Oil raked in record profits of nearly $119 billion last year.  Americans are paying more than $3 a gallon at the pump – over a third more than we were paying at this time last year, and more than double what we paid before President Bush and his oil-friendly policies came to office.

“Since the beginning of this Administration, Big Oil has earned more than half a trillion dollars in profits, but has spent far less than a penny per gallon of those profits to produce clean and affordable renewable fuels in America that can reduce our dependency on oil. Bush Republicans blocked our efforts last year to repeal Big Oil’s tax breaks and instead use that money to expand incentives for the production of energy efficient vehicles and renewable energy, but we will try again this year to do the right thing. Democrats remain committed to restoring fiscal discipline and passing real energy reform that not only lowers prices at the pump and reduces our reliance on oil, but also strengthens our national security and protects our environment.”