Pelosi hammers gas companies for consumer ‘exploitation’
by Mike Lillis - 05/12/22 1:11 PM ET
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday went after the nation’s largest oil companies, accusing the industry of “exploiting” consumers with sky-high gas prices even as the same companies are reporting record profits this year.
“This is a major exploitation of the consumer, because this is a product the consumer must have,” Pelosi said during a press briefing in the Capitol.
The leap in prices at the pump, part of a larger inflationary spike affecting a host of consumer goods, has dogged President Biden and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill, who are scrambling for ways to reverse the trend ahead of November’s midterm elections.
As part of that effort, House Democrats will vote next week on legislation empowering the Biden administration to issue an emergency declaration barring oil companies from setting gas and home energy prices deemed to be “unconscionably excessive” or indicative that “the seller is exploiting the circumstances related to an energy emergency to increase prices unreasonably.”
more
https://thehill.com/news/house/3486245-pelosi-hammers-gas-companies-for-consumer-exploitation/