The Dutchess County Gas Consumer Empower Petition

Feel powerless watching the money drain faster and faster out of your wallet to pay to fill up your car's gas tank-- while profits for oil companies continue to soar higher and higher?

Enough is enough, folks-- we don't have to lie down and take this.

There is something we can do right here as Dutchess County.

We can ask our County Legislature to pass the Dutchess County Gas Consumer Empowerment Law!...

See just a bit below...

If you agree, please contact our County Legislature at [email protected] or [email protected] or 486-2100; pass it on...

Thanks!...

Joel Tyner
County Legislator
Clinton/Rhinebeck
324 Browns Pond Road
Staatsburg, N.Y. 12580
[email protected]
(845) 876-2488

p.s. Of course, we can also lift our voices to ask Congress to pass H.R. 2070-- the Gas Price Spike Act of 2005, co-sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Rep. John Conyers, and thirty-one other members of Congress-- see more on this just a bit below as well-- Rep. Sue Kelly: 897-5200; Rep. Maurice Hinchey: 331-4466; Rep. John Sweeney: 758-1222; Sen. Chuck Schumer: (212) 486-4430; Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: (212) 688-6262; President George W. Bush: (202) 456-1414...

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The Dutchess County Gasoline Consumer Empowerment Law

Due to the critical state of gas prices here in Dutchess County which continue to unfairly drive up the cost of all levels of government for local taxpayers-- as well as unfairly punish car owners-- as of January 1, 2006, all gas stations in Dutchess County will by law be mandated to prominently display a poster and have handouts for customers with the following ten pieces of information (the data below to be updated in December before posting):

1. "The average U.S. gasoline price in 2004, adjusted for inflation, was the highest since 1985. Between January 3 and April 11, 2005, gasoline prices increased nearly every week, and during this time the average U.S. price for regular unleaded gasoline jumped 50 cents per gallon, adding about $7.8 billion to consumers' total gasoline bill, or about $58 for each passenger car in the United States." [Government Accountability Office May 2005: http://www.gao.gov/atext/d05525sp.txt ]

2. "ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, British Petroleum, and Shell Oil have made $205 billion in after-tax profits since 2001."
[Public Citizen April 2005:
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/Oil_and_Gas/articles.cfm?ID=13317 ]

3. "The U.S. Federal Trade Commission concluded in March 2001 that oil companies had intentionally withheld supplies of gasoline from the market as a tactic to drive up prices as a 'profit-maximizing strategy.' The FTC concluded an investigation into a spike in Midwest gasoline prices and found that one firm chose not to sell its excess supply because that 'would have pushed down prices and thereby reduced the profitability' of its existing sales: 'An executive of this company made clear that he would rather sell less gasoline and earn a higher margin on each gallon sold than sell more gasoline and earn a lower margin.'"
[Public Citizen 2005: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2001/03/midwest.htm
http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Ask_this.view&askthisid=111
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/Oil_and_Gas/articles.cfm?ID=11829 ]

4. "Over 2,600 mergers have occurred in the petroleum industry since the 1990s, some involving oil companies that had previously competed with each other. Our study found that mergers contributed to reduced competition in the industry."
[Government Accountability Office May 2005:
http://www.gao.gov/atext/d05525sp.txt ]

5. "The largest five oil refiners in the United States (ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, BP, Valero and Royal Dutch Shell) now control over half (52.2\%) of domestic refinery capacity. Only ten years ago, these top five oil companies only controlled about one-third (34.5\%) of domestic refinery capacity. This dramatic increase in the control of just the top five companies makes it easier for oil companies to manipulate gasoline supplies by intentionally withholding supplies in order to drive up prices."
[Public Citizen 2005: http://www.citizen.org/print_article.cfm?ID=11829 ]

6. "The U.S. Government Accountability Office affirmed Public Citizen's conclusions in a recent report to Congress. The evidence is in the numbers. The domestic gasoline price spread-- the price of a gallon of gas, minus the cost of crude oil and taxes-- has increased by 30 percent from the mid-1990s to 2004. That spread measures the share of a gallon of gas charged by refiners and marketers. In the mid-to late-1990s, the domestic spread averaged 39 cents per gallon. But during the post-merger period from 2000-2004, the average domestic spread has been 51 cents. This translates to an increase in U.S. gasoline prices of $55 billion, the amount by which U.S. consumers have been price-gouged. It is no coincidence that oil corporation profits are at record highs."
[Public Citizen April 2005, Consumer Federation/Consumers Union May 2004:
http://www.gao.gov/atext/d05525sp.txt ;
http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Ask_this.view&askthisid=111 ;
http://www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/oilprofits.pdf ]

7. "H.R. 2070, the Gas Price Spike Act, would be a windfall tax on on all industry profits above reasonable levels-- that wouldn't increase the cost of gasoline because it wouldn't tax the price of gasoline. It would only only tax excessive profits of refineries and distributors; any attempt to increase prices to recover the lost revenue in taxes would simply be taxed at 100\%-- making the price increase worthless. The revenue from such a tax would be used to pay for tax credits for Americans who buy ultra efficient cars (that get over 65 mpg) and for mass rail transit in and between cities."
[Sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, and thirty-two other members of Congress:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-2070 ;
http://www.kucinich.us/floor_speeches/gas_price_spike_act4may.php ]

8. Contact information for Dutchess County's federal representatives:

Rep. Sue Kelly: 897-5200
Rep. Maurice Hinchey: 331-4466
Rep. John Sweeney: 758-1222
Sen. Chuck Schumer: (212) 486-4430
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: (212) 688-6262
President George W. Bush: (202) 456-1414

9. More information can be found at Citizen.org, Consumer.org, ConsumerFed.org.

10. Dutchess County Consumer Affairs Department: 486-2946
http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/ConsumerAffairs/CFindex.htm
[website to be updated and access simplified at DutchessGas.com;
gas stations found not in compliance would be cited and/or fined]

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"Gas Keeps Guzzling More Cash: Valley Average Price Hits High"
by Kathleen McGrory [7/12/05 Poughkeepsie Journal]

Gas prices in New York state hit an all-time high Monday, surging to an average of $2.404 per gallon for regular grade, according to AAA.

National gas prices also made records, capping off at $2.291 per gallon. In New York City, that price swelled to $2.491.

For Hudson Valley motorists, a quick scan of Poughkeepsie gas stations saw prices ranging from $2.49 to $2.53 per gallon.

"With prices like these, it is impossible for honest, hard-working people to make ends meet," said Stephanie Santiago of Poughkeepsie, a dietary aide and mother.

Santiago called the $2.51 she paid per gallon at a Poughkeepsie Mobil station "horrible."

Industry experts say changes in the price of crude oil are responsible for the recent price hike.

Crude oil, the base product of gasoline, is refined and then sent to gasoline stations. Refining and distributing take about three weeks, said John Felmy, chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute, a petroleum industry association.

Felmy said the high costs of production and record levels of demand have kept the market for crude oil tight - and prices high.

Felmy also said the recent tropical storms and hurricanes have played a part in rising costs. These storms have slowed down American oil refineries throughout the Southeast, he said.

With Hurricane Dennis threatening the Gulf Coast last week, crude oil futures prices hit nearly $60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday, however, hurricane fears subsided, and prices fell by more than a dollar to $58.92.

But don't expect to see prices at the pump subside yet.

Economists say gas prices often lag behind crude oil prices because of costs associated with futures transactions and the refining process.

Felmy said the lag could last from days to weeks to not at all. "As good economists like to say: 'It depends,' " he said.

Felmy said the lag could last from days to weeks to not at all. "As good economists like to say: 'It depends,' " he said.

Issa Issa, who owns the Poughkeepsie Mobil across from city hall, believes prices will fall by the end of the summer.

"This is what happens over the summer," he said. "Prices rise. After Labor Day, they go down. Nothing more, nothing less."

The spike has some Hudson Valley residents changing habits.

"I commute down to White Plains four days a week and have started buying my gas down in Westchester, yes, Westchester because the gas is cheaper," said Liza Pleva of Wappingers Falls in an e-mail. "I feel like we are being taken up here in Dutchess."

Pleva said her commute costs have gone from about $200 a month in 2003 to $375.

"My family has also started to cut back on our traveling to visit family and friends, to save money. And that is disappointing to the kiddos, who are used to seeing their grandparents and cousins," she said.

But when it comes to summer road trips, AAA spokesman Robert Sinclair Jr. doubts high prices at the pump will keep American motorists off the road.

The price of a pizza

He estimates road-trippers in 2005 will pay only $14 to $15 a day more than their 2004 counterparts - the price of a large pizza.

"Americans have fewer vacation days than workers in any other industrialized nation of the world," Sinclair said. "When we have the opportunity to enjoy ourselves in our vehicles, we make the most of it."

Higher gas prices won't stop Jim Fedorchak from driving. Fedorchak, a Poughkeepsie attorney, travels by car often for work, and plans to continue doing so.

"It is horrible, but it isn't going to change my plans," he said.