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Group says price-gouging bill would create 'huge' economic downturn

The head of the Independent Women's Forum says the fuel economy bill currently before the Senate is "the wrong direction for American energy policy" and that it would be "an overbearing intrusion into the energy market."



The Senate is debating an energy bill that would raise auto fuel economy standards for the first time in nearly 20 years and make oil industry price gouging a federal crime. The "Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficient Act" calls on automakers to raise their fuel economy to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

Michelle Bernard, president and CEO of the Independent Women's Forum, accuses policymakers of pandering to consumer anger over high gasoline prices without thinking it through and explaining to the American public what will happen if the price-gouging bill is passed.

"This is very, very dangerous. If this legislation passes, they are going to throw us right back to the 1970s -- to a regulatory nightmare that produced skyrocketed energy costs and an economic downturn of huge proportions," she predicts. "That is going to anger every single member of the American public regardless of political stripe or leanings."

Bernard also believes that if members of Congress want to do something that will actually reduce prices at the gas pump, they should decrease the taxes that consumers must pay with every fuel purchase. Then, she says, they can "sit back, take a little bit of time, and come up with a comprehensive energy plan that makes sense."

Bernard says IWF is a proponent of ethanol and other biofuels because they are set to play an important role in meeting America's future energy needs, but she also warns the increased use of ethanol raises food prices. A price-gouging bill, she says, is not a "panacea."