Wednesday May 28, 2008
(Manchester, NH)—Former Governor and current candidate for U.S. Senate Jeanne Shaheen today visited with voters in Laconia to discuss high gas prices and their impact on New Hampshire's tourism industry. Shaheen visited McLean's Mobile Marine in Laconia and spoke with owners and employees about the impact high gas prices are having on their business.
"As we all know, tourism is a significant part of the economy here in the Lakes Region," Shaheen said. "Small businesses rely on the influx of tourists who spend money on boat rentals, in water parks and in hotels and restaurants. Large parts of the Lakes economy will be impacted by a downturn in tourist travel.
"High gas prices are impacting every corner of the New Hampshire economy. We need a real change in Washington. "
Congress recently took an important step by closing the Enron loophole that allows Wall Street traders to gamble on the price of oil on an electronic market, artificially driving it up in an attempt to make huge profits. Jeanne Shaheen believes we can do more for New Hampshire's families and we should take the following steps to bring down gas prices:
*Demand that refiners increase their production of oil. Shaheen also believes should create an Oil and Gas Market Fraud Task Force to investigate allegations of oil and gas market manipulation and fraud, similar to the Corporate Fraud Task Force established in 2002 in the wake of the Enron scandals.
*Stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and release 30 million barrels of oil. Shaheen believes we should bring prices down by increasing America¹s oil supply by releasing 30 million barrels of oil from the Reserve.
*Pressure OPEC to increase production. Right now, under U.S. anti-trust laws, OPEC countries cannot be held accountable, even when they are engaged in coordinated activity to manipulate the global oil market. Shaheen believes we should amend the law so that the Justice Department can bring suits in US courts against OPEC for price fixing.
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