On June 10, during the heated debate over rising energy prices, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) tried to bring his bill, S. 3044, the Consumer First Energy Act, to the Senate floor for debate. He proposed a package that attempted to reverse the harm imposed by eight years of Bush Administration pro-oil policies by attacking the root causes of high energy prices, providing price relief to American consumers, and supporting investment in clean energy technologies.

S. 3044 sought to roll back tax breaks for oil and gas companies and invest those taxpayer dollars in clean, renewable energy and consumer price protection. S. 3044 would implement a 25 percent windfall profits tax on the largest oil companies, protect consumers from price-gouging, and curb excessive market price speculation. The Consumer First Energy Act also included provisions to suspend government purchases of oil to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), and would have empowered the U.S. Attorney General to bring an enforcement action against any country or company that is colluding to set the price of oil.

Senator Reid offered a motion to move forward on the bill that required three-fifths of the total Senate (60 votes). The motion was rejected 51-43 (Senate roll call vote 146). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.