The surge in energy prices has boosted profits for producers while raising gasoline, diesel and jet fuel costs for consumers. The earnings have renewed calls in Washington for a windfall profits tax. “It’s fair to put a windfall profits tax on inordinate windfall profits rather than cut off children’s food programs,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said. “We canceled investments that we had planned for Europe based on the last time they passed a windfall profits tax.” Timothy Fitzgerald, a business economics professor at the University of Tennessee, said consumers ultimately bear the cost of higher energy prices.