Democratic leaders in the US Congress unveiled new energy legislation, ‘The Consumers First Energy Act’, which targets big oil companies and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It features a 25 percent windfall profits tax on oil companies operating in the United States, a rollback of existing tax breaks for oil and gas companies worth $17 billion over 10 year period, and an authorization for the U.S. Attorney General to bring price collusion charges against OPEC members. The bill would also suspend additions to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the price of crude oil fell back to $75 –a-barrel from the current rates of over $120. It also would target price gouging and speculation.

The legislation has been strongly criticized by the Republicans, foreign policy experts and oil firms. The Republicans on their part unveiled their own legislation for boosting U.S. oil production, which calls for opening protected areas on the Outer Continental Shelf and in Alaska to oil and gas drilling1. It might be recalled that during the debate on increasing fuel prices in India, the left parties had made similar calls on the Government of India to decrease the taxes on crude oil products to compensate for the increase in the global prices.

• 1. Stephen Mufson, “Bill Targets Oil Firms and OPEC,” Washington Post, May 8, 2008, at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050703693...