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The rain had barely stopped from September’s devastating hurricanes
before allies of the oil industry in Congress were offering up new dirty energy bills. On Oct. 7, in a vote held open for nearly an hour, the House narrowly passed a bill with more than $3 billion in new oil industry subsidies sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton (TX).
“In this time of skyrocketing energy prices, Americans deserve responsible policies to save oil and protect pocketbooks, not dirtier air and more oil industry handouts,” said U.S. PIRG Legislative Director Anna Aurilio. U.S. PIRG is the federal advocacy arm of Environment Colorado.
With the oil industry announcing record third-quarter profits, U.S. PIRG released a policy paper, “Solutions to America’s Oil Crisis,” outlining energy-saving solutions that would protect U.S. consumers and the American economy from future price shocks.“With only 3 percent of the world’s known oil resources, the U.S. will never be able to drill its way out of this crisis.
With short-term supplies tight and long-term oil resources dwindling, it is long past time for federal action,” said Environment Colorado field organizer Matt Garrington.
According to the report, enacting a windfall profits tax and repealing all existing oil and gas tax breaks would generate an estimated $26 billion in revenue in 2005 alone that could be used to fund energy savers like home weatherization and public transit programs. |
