Washington, DC — Sen. John Kerry made the following statement today as ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, ChevronTexaco and ConocoPhillips released their annual profits:

“Big Oil has raked in profits of over half a trillion dollars since George Bush took office, $40 billion for ExxonMobil alone this quarter, and Americans have been stuck with record gas prices, dependence on foreign oil, and global climate change that gets more serious by the day. Even George Bush wants to end some of the Washington giveaways to these companies, but the Republicans in Congress refuse to side with those of us who have been fighting for years to roll back Big Oil’s tax breaks and invest instead in a Manhattan Project for clean, affordable renewable fuels and efficiency. It is long past time for Washington to change and put the national interest ahead of the special interests.”

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