Oh, This Is Special (Energy-Inhibiting DeWine Wants Investigation of “High” Gas Prices)

NOTE: Related FreeRepublic post is here.
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Leave it to Ohio’s incumbent senior senator to do something totally symbolic and worthless while refusing to do anything substantive on energy:

Big Oil in congressional cross hairs
Politics play large role in fuel-price protests

WASHINGTON — In a bitter election year, Congress has finally reached consensus about something this week: Everybody is mad at the oil companies.

The soaring price of gasoline has sent tremors through Capitol Hill, with Republicans and Democrats scurrying for the nearest TV camera to assail the petroleum giants.

Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, wants the Justice Department to use antitrust laws to go after foreign oil exporters, while Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is urging the federal government to stop collecting its gasoline taxes for 60 days.

Senate Republicans countered with a $100 rebate to individuals to cushion the cost of gasoline prices. The GOP plan came with a catch: The Republicans want Congress to approve oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Democrats and a handful of Republicans, including DeWine, oppose oil drilling in the refuge.

And Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Upper Arlington, after saying profit is “what America’s all about,” denounced ExxonMobil for record profits while refusing to pay billions of dollars in punitive damages for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

It is part of a growing worry — particularly among Republicans — that voters are so angry about high prices at the pump that they will take it out on incumbent members of Congress.

“Nobody wants to be on the side of the oil companies and high gasoline prices,” said Sherry Bebitch, a professor of political science at the University of Southern California. “Will this do anything (to reduce prices)? Of course it won’t do anything.”

….. Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill co-authored by DeWine that would allow the Justice Department to examine the prices demanded by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which includes Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

It was a mostly symbolic gesture, with some lawmakers acknowledging the legislation would be litigated for years if it becomes law. But DeWine said that “if companies in the United States were doing what OPEC is doing today, they could be hauled into court.”

Here’s what The Wall Street Journal said about all this nonsense today in a subcription-only editorial:

Even the Members know that cars will run on nuclear power before suits against OPEC succeed in U.S. courts.

And the idea that oil companies are colluding to raise prices has been contradicted by countless Federal Trade Commission studies. Oil exploration is a capital-intensive business that requires huge economies of scale and long time horizons. From the time a potential drilling site is spotted to the day any oil gets to the pump can take a decade. Bigger companies can afford to take bigger risks. So busting up oil companies would almost certainly lead to less oil exploration and production, and thus higher oil and gas prices.

So please, Sen. DeWine, do you really think we’ve forgotten that you alone are the biggest reason why drilling in the Arctic National Wildlfe Refuge has never passed the Senate?

And now, after years of hamstringing the energy industry, you’re shocked, SHOCKED that prices are so high.

Give me a break.

Ohio conservatives have a chance to do something about our RINO Senator on Tuesday. For the sake of energy sanity, vote for Bill Pierce (site, blog, contribute).

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NOTE: I have endorsed Bill Pierce for Senate, and have provided nominal financial support for his campaign. BizzyBlog is a member of Blogs for Pierce.