Soon after taking over the White House, Vice President Cheney invited energy company CEOs to the White House as part of a secret “energy task force" to more or less write our country's energy policies. It's no wonder oil companies have seen record profits while American consumers have suffered pain at the pump. Under Bush Republican leadership, gas prices skyrocketed from $1.50 to more than $4.00 a gallon, Big Oil tax received tax breaks worth billions in windfall profits. But is was Senator Lautenberg who exposed these secret meetings and forced the oil industry to admit its collusion with the Bush/Cheney White House.

Senator Lautenberg is fighting back. He is a strong supporter of Senate legislation to reduce gas prices by reigning in oil speculators who have driven up the price, cracking down on price gouging and taking on the OPEC oil cartel. Senator Lautenberg also worked to close the “Enron loophole,” which allowed energy companies like Enron to skirt regulations to drive up their profits at the expense of American consumers.

Senator Lautenberg strongly believes the long term goal must be to rid ourselves of our dependence on foreign oil, by developing alternative sources of energy and increasing innovation.

Lautenberg: Take Immediate Action on Gas Prices
Senator Lautenberg has coauthored legislation – that is currently being blocked by a Republican filibuster at the behest of Big Oil – to protect consumer from price gougers, stop market manipulation by greedy oil traders, and stand up to OPEC nations who are price fixing at the expense of American consumers. The bill will also create a tax on the "windfall profits" of the major oil companies and roll back $17 billion in tax breaks for Big Oil.

Increasing Fuel Efficiency and Pushing Alternative Energy
Overcoming opposition from Big Oil, Senator Lautenberg helped lead the successful effort in the Congress to increase the fuel efficiency of our cars and trucks. Senator Lautenberg is also a leader in the fight to develop more alternative energy sources, like solar and wind, and alternatives to gas and oil, such as ethanol and cellulosics.

Lautenberg: We Must Break Up the OPEC Oil Cartel
Lautenberg has long called for the Bush Administration to take a harder stance against OPEC countries like Saudi Arabia. Lautenberg introduced legislation and led a delegation letter of more than a dozen Senators to President Bush calling on the United States to take action against OPEC countries' in the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the cartels' violation of international trade rules against illegally restricting oil production in order to increase prices.