WASHINGTON (AFP) — Senate Democrats Tuesday failed to win passage of a bill they said would trim runaway energy prices by ending tax breaks for oil companies and forcing them to invest in "clean" technology.
A procedural vote on the Consumer First Energy Act failed by 51-43 to reach the 60 votes necessary to bring the bill to a final debate, amid Republican opposition to any attempt to raise taxes.
"This is a start. It will help lower prices. It will help working families make ends meet," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a vain effort to keep the bill alive. "It is one small step on a long and uphill road to a cleaner, more affordable energy future."
The bill would have ended tax breaks for big oil companies, imposed a new tax on windfall profits and fought price manipulation by OPEC, Reid said.
The bill came to the Senate floor amid soaring oil and gas prices that US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Monday acknowledged as a "problem."
The per barrel price of oil surged Friday to all-time record highs of 139.12 dollars in New York and 138.12 dollars in London, after soaring 16 dollars across two days of trading.
Over the weekend, the average US pump price crossed a record threshold of four dollars per gallon (3.78 litres), and it continued its rise Monday, according to the American Automobile Association.
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