Gas Prices now $1.00 more per gallon than prior to Iraq War!

Gas Prices now $1.00 more per gallon than prior to Iraq War! And read about
the Oil companies being shielded in SECRECY by U.S. government, when a
Senator asks a simple question. Why the secrecy? Is the government for the
people at all? This hurts the poorest Americans the worst, who need
transportation to work--$1.00 per gallon higher now! Is this the War Tax on
gas? THIS WILL RUIN THE ECONOMY.

Lawmaker wants list of companies exporting US oil
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With gasoline and crude oil prices at record highs, a
U.S. lawmaker wants the Commerce Department to release the names of American
companies that are shipping U.S. petroleum products to other countries.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon -- often a critic of big oil firms --
says information on the 268 million barrels of U.S. petroleum products
exported in 2004 is needed as Congress considers a broad energy bill.

He sent a letter on Monday to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez asking for
the list of oil companies after the department's Census Bureau, which tracks
petroleum exports, refused to provide the data.

"Information about the export of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels as well
as other petroleum products out of the U.S. is directly relevant to the
coming Congressional debate on how to address our nation's dependence on
imports of oil and other petroleum products," Wyden said in his letter.

The United States consumes about 20.8 million barrels of petroleum a day,
with imports accounting for about 58 percent of supply. However, about 1
million barrels of U.S. oil petroleum products are exported daily.

Charles Kincannon, who heads the Census Bureau, told Wyden last week that he
could not release the export information to an individual member of
Congress.

The Census Bureau's acting general counsel later told Wyden's staff that
only committees of Congress have the authority to obtain such information.

The general counsel also said federal law exempts from disclosure shippers'
export declarations, unless the commerce secretary determines that such
exemptions would be contrary to the national interest.

"I believe the national interest justifies you authorizing the release of
the (oil) exporters' names," Wyden wrote to Gutierrez.

The senator, who is a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee, also said there was no basis in the law to deny his request for
the names of petroleum exporters on the grounds the request did not come
from a congressional committee.

While the Census Bureau wants to keep information about oil exporting
companies secret, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration
lists on its website monthly information on U.S. companies importing oil and
petroleum products.

The Energy Department data includes the name of each importing company, how
many barrels of petroleum product or oil were purchased and from what
country and the U.S. port where it was delivered.

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