The Oil Enforcement Agency was founded on January 31, 2006, by an act of civic charter following the 217th State of the Union Address. In his address, the President of the United States established the Agency's mandate: "We have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil. To break this addiction ... we must ... move beyond a petroleum-based economy."
The mission of the OEA is to enforce this mandate by bringing to justice those organizations, and principal members of organizations, involved in oil-addiction-fostering extraction, manufacture, or distribution of oil or oil consuming vehicles; and to recommend and support programs aimed at reducing dependence on said oil and other fossil fuels.
In carrying out its mission the OEA's primary responsibilities include:
- Investigation, interdiction and prosecution of major violators of the Presidential Oil-Addiction Mandate. Foremost among them The Big 6 Automakers, i.e. Ford, GM, DaimlerChrysler, Honda, Nissan and Toyota.
- Basic training for special agents.
- Point-of-sale interventions of dealers who perpetuate oil addiction and its resulting health and environmental problems.
- Development of a national strategy to collect, analyze, and disseminate operational programs for building oil independence.
- Coordination of at-large-citizen programs designed to curtail abuse of fuel-inefficient vehicles in the United States, Canada and Europe through legislative policies, interventions, dealer sting operations, Greenfleets policies, national days of action, and the placement of cute biodegradable stickers in dealer bathrooms.
- Liaison with oil-affected communities, and other organizations on matters relating to international oil reduction programs.
- Support of other federal, state, local, international and grassroots initiatives that address the root causes of oil addiction or push for alternatives to this addiction.