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Lawmakers grill oil execs over profits

WASHINGTON, April 1 (UPI) -- Oil executives, speaking before a U.S. House panel Tuesday, were asked to support a bill that would trim $18 billion in tax cuts in favor of renewable energy.

"Americans shouldn't have to break the bank to fill the tank," Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said in his prepared remarks at the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Executives from Exxon Mobil, BP America, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell Oil testified before the committee about the skyrocketing prices for gasoline, diesel and heating oil. Lawmakers complained about the billion-dollar profits while U.S. consumers spend an average of $3.287 for a gallon of unleaded gasoline, Marketwatch reported.

Stephen Simon, senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corp, said raising taxes on oil and gas companies will discourage investment to increase supply.

"We depend on high earnings over the (up cycle) to sustain investment over the long term, including the (down cycles)," Simon said in prepared remarks. "Our worldwide profits have grown, but taxes have grown even more."

Several lawmakers said oil companies need to invest more in renewable energies.

"People are going broke, and they want to know why these people are making such a large profit, and they wonder why can't the money be channeled into renewable fuels and creating green-collar jobs," said Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif. "I'm asking you to step up to the plate, help us look for other alternatives."

Truck association empathizes with truckers

NASHVILLE, April 1 (UPI) -- Truckers protesting fuel costs had sympathy, but no endorsement, from the National Association of Small Trucking Companies, the organization said.

"Every time something like this has happened, very little good has come out of it," David Owen president of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"The people that get hurt the worst are the people who chose to participate," he said.

Owen said he understood why truckers were protesting, telling the newspaper, "I'm all for bringing up the level of public awareness."

But "they need to bring their concerns to Washington, not Atlanta," Owen said, reacting to news a convoy of 18-wheel trucks were planning to converge on Georgia's capital.

Protests were planned around the nation, as truckers vowed to drive slow to stall traffic or pull off to the side of the road Tuesday.

But not all truckers joined in. Bobby Reeves, owner of RRR Transportation, a fleet of 38 trucks in Gordon County, Ga., told the Journal-Constitution, "I've got $100,000 in bills. It's not going to do me any good to not work."

Explosives in luggage found in Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla., April 1 (UPI) -- Law enforcement and airport officials say a Jamaican man attempting to board a plane at Orlando (Fla.) International Airport had explosives in his luggage.

The Orlando Sentinel reported the man was planning to board an Air Jamaica flight to Montego Bay. He allegedly was carrying pipe bomb components, including end caps and metal ball bearings, and other explosive materials. Transportation Security Administration officials said the man, whose identity was not released, had been behaving suspiciously, prompting a search of his luggage.

"We're responding as if it's the real deal," FBI spokesman David Couvertier told the Sentinel. "It's a serious situation until we decide otherwise."

Check-in locations for Air Jamaica and Virgin Atlantic were evacuated.

Records say 10 percent of pilots pack guns

WASHINGTON, April 1 (UPI) -- Government records show more than 10 percent of U.S. airline pilots are certified to carry guns in the cockpit to prevent hijackings.

While the exact number of armed pilots hasn't been revealed, USA Today said Tuesday the statistics work out to about 9,500.

The Transportation Security Administration has projected the percentages to grow to 16.5 percent of eligible pilots by 2011.

The goal of the gun program is to provide flight crews with the means of thwarting an airliner takeover as al-Qaida hijackers did on Sept. 11, 2001, using only threats and box cutters.

Officials at the Air Line Pilots Association told USA Today giving crew members the ability to use deadly force against a takeover attempt has likely been a deterrent to terrorists.

But some transportation analysts maintain guns could actually increase the risk because an unarmed terrorist could get the jump on a pilot and get hold of a loaded gun.

India warns Dalai Lama on demonstrations

NEW DELHI, April 1 (UPI) -- Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee warned the Dalai Lama that, while he remains welcome in India, he must not do anything to damage its relations with China.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, in exile since 1959, uses the Indian hill town of Dharamsala as a base.

With the relationship between India and China becoming closer, recent demonstrations in Dharamsala and outside the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi have embarrassed the Indian government, the BBC reports. While China blames the Dalai Lama for unrest in Tibet and among Tibetan exiles in India, he has said nothing to encourage protesters, the report said.

"India will continue to offer him all hospitality, but during his stay in India, they should not do any political activity, any action that can adversely affect relations between India and China," Mukherjee said on Indian television.

The captain of the Indian national soccer team recently refused to participate in carrying the Olympic torch on its journey through India.