Public Citizen
Tyson Slocum
Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971 by Ralph Nader to represent consumer interests in the U.S. Congress, the executive branch, and the courts. Tyson Slocum is the research director with Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, where he has worked since 2000. The following is excerpted from Slocum’s testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on September 21, 2005.Since 2001, the five largest oil refining companies operating in America ExxonMobil, Valero, ConocoPhillips, Shell, and BP have recorded $228 billion in profits. While, of course, America’s tremendous appetite…