WASHINGTON, DC — Once again, it’s that time of year when the summer driving season picks up and families hit the road for their vacations. But the mercury isn’t the only thing on the rise – so are gas prices. It happens every year – just around the time of graduation parties and Memorial Day vacations, picnics and road trips, Big Oil hits consumers where it hurts the most, their wallets.
“Big Oil’s predictability is absurd – every year the same thing happens, as more people hit the road, prices climb. It is just as certain that the sun will set in the evening, as oil companies will use any excuse to gouge consumers and blame some outside factor,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy. “After roughly 40 days of price increases in February, switching seasonal blends were blamed. Now, it is refinery planned maintenance and tight regional supplies. Their unending excuses are as long as the list of government subsidies they have received over the last century.”
“This is just one more example why renewable biofuels are necessary. They provide consumer savings and a choice at the pump and reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil,” he continued. “While Big Oil touts all the new wells, the fracking and the so-called abundant supply right here at home, prices have not gone down. Why do prices remain so high with a so-called increase in supply? Oil companies will continue to rake in record profits on the backs of their customers as they continue their monopoly on the liquid fuels market by blocking competition and doling out the same baseless excuses time and again,” Buis continued.
“Enough is enough. It is time we end this absurd addiction to foreign oil and use homegrown American ethanol. It creates jobs right here at home that cannot be outsourced and it is cleaner and better for our environment. This failed status quo ships nearly a billion dollars a day overseas for our addiction to fossil fuels and foreign oil, and it is time we spend our money here at home.
“The latest reports that motorists will pay record prices this Memorial Day weekend at the pump is no surprise, but just one of many reasons it is time we break the addiction to oil and start using higher blends of ethanol.” Buis concluded.
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About Growth Energy
Growth Energy represents the producers and supporters of ethanol who feed the world and fuel America in ways that achieve energy independence, improve economic well-being and create a healthier environment for all Americans now. For more information, please visit us at www.GrowthEnergy.org, follow us on Twitter @GrowthEnergy or connect with us on Facebook.