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Hawkins proposes a national oil company
by Erik Kriss / Albany Notebook
Syracuse Post-Standard |
Howie Hawkins wants another oil company to keep large oil companies honest, and the new company would be owned by you.
Hawkins, the Syracusan who's running as the Green Party candidate against U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., outlined his proposal for a national oil company Monday in Albany.
"We must break Big Oil's monopoly control of our energy supplies," said Hawkins, a loading dock worker for United Parcel Service and a Teamsters union member who has run for mayor and state comptroller.
Hawkins called his proposed company a New Deal-style, "yardstick" corporation that would provide competition to prevent private oil companies from gouging consumers. It would play a role similar to that of the federally created Tennessee Valley Authority during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Hawkins said a nationally owned oil company should follow up on Venezuela's offer to sell oil at $50 per barrel (about $2 per gallon of gas at the pump), well below the going price of about $70 per barrel.
Meantime, the company should be required to develop wind, solar and other alternative sources of power, and it should buy U.S.-based Citgo gas stations from Venezuelan ownership, Hawkins said.
He said the federal government should improve fuel efficiency standards for vehicles and reduce the military budget for "initial capitalization" of a national oil company.
Does his idea amount to socialism?
"We've got to stop being dogmatic about public ownership vs. private ownership and do what's pragmatic," replied Hawkins, who suggested a national oil company could sell shares of stock while retaining majority government ownership. "This is not an ideological program; it's a practical program."
Neutral broker
Hawkins also suggested Monday that the United States become a "neutral broker" in the Middle East, rather than a staunch ally of Israel.
He urged the United States to push for a cease-fire and negotiations, and to help enforce United Nations resolutions.
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 *Website by David Doonan, Labor Donated to Hawkins for Senate Campaign* |
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