Press Release - Thursday, September 07, 2006
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IT'S TIME TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST SOARING PRICES AT THE PUMP QUINN TAKES ON BIG OIL AT THE GAS PUMP AND RELEASES THE GROSSLY INFLATED SALARIES OF TOP OIL BARONS
CHICATO - Today, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn released a list of the inflated compensation paid to the chief executive officers of five big oil companies. Quinn also urged Big Oil to use a portion of their record profits to pump Ethanol
E-85 - an All-American fuel grown and processed in Illinois - at every gas station in the state. Right now about 130 of Illinois' 5,000 gas stations have Ethanol E-85 pumps.
"Illinois consumers are fed up with the excessive profits of oil companies and the inflated salaries of oil executives who line their pockets without significantly investing in cost-saving renewable alternatives to fuel, such as Ethanol E-85," Quinn said. "It's time to show oil companies that we're serious about reducing our reliance on foreign petroleum."
Quinn's list revealed that Lee R. Raymond, former chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, raked in nearly $49 million in total compensation in 2005 alone. The oil company invested a mere $10 million in direct research on alternative energy in the same year, according to the New York Times.
Exxon Mobil enjoyed a record $36 billion profit last year, allowing Raymond to retire with an exorbitant package worth at least $398 million. All the while, skyrocketing gas prices continued to put an even larger dent in the wallets of Illinois consumers.
Last year, as Illinois citizens returned from their Labor Day weekend vacations, the average price for a gallon of gasoline was $2.70 in Illinois and $2.80 in Chicago. This year the average price for a gallon of gasoline is $2.97 statewide and $3.11 in Chicago.
"The only thing that's soaring as high as prices at the pump are the inflated salaries of overpaid oil barons who need to show a little more loyalty to the American consumers, and less loyalty to the Almighty Buck," Quinn said.
The state of Illinois is doing its part to reduce our dependency on imported oil. Governor Rod Blagojevich recently unveiled a comprehensive energy independence plan that, among other things, will replace 50 percent of the Illinois fuel supply with homegrown alternatives like ethanol and biodiesel by 2017. And, since April of 2005, state vehicles have used more than one million gallons of homegrown E-85 and biodiesel.
Quinn also urged passage of HB 4183, legislation that would give the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) the authority to serve as a watchdog over oil companies. With nearly a quarter century of experience standing up for Illinois consumers against big electric, gas and phone companies, CUB has the credibility to take on giant oil companies.
Quinn spearheaded the successful 1982 referendum effort that lead to the creation of CUB. Now the largest state consumer group in the nation, CUB has saved Illinois consumers more than $5 billion in rate reductions and refunds while serving as a watchdog over our vital resources.
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