News / Politics
John Edwards Seeking Probe into Rising Gas Prices
With the national average for a gallon of gas reaching $3.20, John Edwards slammed the oil industry on Thursday for “anticompetitive actions” and says the influx of mergers should be subjected to investigation by the Justice Department. Edwards has called for the investigation to determine what impact the “anticompetitive actions” have had on the rise at the pump.
Much of Edwards’ platform as a Democratic presidential candidate is based on his environmental views and his attempts to cut greenhouse gases and create an energy plan that would get the country “on a path to be virtually petroleum-free within a generation.”
When speaking about the noncompetitive environment in which oil industries operate the former U.S. Senator from North Carolina made it known that “Vertically integrated companies like Exxon Mobil own every step of the production process - from extraction to refining to sale at the pump, enabling them to foreclose competition.”
It is that ability to shut down the competition that Edwards wants investigated.
As part of his revealed energy plan Edwards has said he wants to create a major shift from the country’s current reliance on oil and focus more on biofuels, particularly ethanol. Edwards would also like to end the tax breaks that have been granted to oil companies. He would use the surplus money for conservation technologies and further support of biofuels.
