Clinton Blasts Exxon Mobil’s Record Profits

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) blasted oil companies and U.S. energy policy today, responding to news that Exxon Mobil raked in the highest ever quarterly profit for a U.S. company Thursday with its third-quarter earnings of $14.83 billion.

Oil companies “continue to run up record profits to maintain the status quo even as Americans struggle to pay the high costs of heating their homes, fueling their cars, and meeting the mounting challenges of a growing economic crisis,” Clinton said, calling for higher taxes on oil companies to fund develoment of clean energy technology and “immediate energy relief” for the middle class.

See Clinton’s full statement below:

Exxon Mobil and other oil giants continue to run up record profits to maintain the status quo even as Americans struggle to pay the high costs of heating their homes, fueling their cars, and meeting the mounting challenges of a growing economic crisis. And too many in Washington have stood in the way of the changes we need to chart a new energy strategy for our nation that breaks our dependence on foreign oil, reduces global warming pollution, and creates millions of new green collar jobs. I have proposed that we eliminate the tax breaks for big oil companies like Exxon Mobil and use that money to establish a Strategic Energy Fund to speed development of clean energy technology, put more efficient cars on the road, create new jobs, and provide immediate energy relief for the middle class as we head into what could be a difficult winter.