“NOPEC” – High Gas Prices, Let’s Sue

On Tuesday, the House passed the “No Oil Producing and Exporting Act of 2007,” which would allow the Department of Justice to sue members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in U.S. court.  A similar bill has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, and has been placed on the Senate’s legislative calendar for a vote.  President Bush has threatened to veto the Act, though the House passed the bill with enough votes to override a presidential veto.   

Putting aside the likely demise of this bill in the political process, is the solution to higher gas prices really a lawsuit?   What does this bill say about our cultural propensity to solve problems through litigation? 

-SBS