| The energy bill crafted by the Bush administration and its allies in Congress gives away billions to the oil and gas industry while doing almost nothing to curb U.S. dependence on foreign oil. |
| For decades, the United States has become increasingly exposed to disruptions of its foreign oil supply. Now the country imports nearly two-thirds of its petroleum, and 95 percent of the energy for its transport system - the backbone of its economy - comes from oil. The energy bill signed by President Bush this week does virtually nothing to address this appalling vulnerability.
Source: "Caught Up in Our Own Connections" By THOMAS HOMER-DIXON - NY Times - August 13, 2005 Gas and oil prices are reaching record levels, above $60 a barrel, with no relief in sight for years to come. Energy-industry profits are following the same upward trajectory, as ExxonMobil boasts second-quarter earnings over $7.5 billion, an increase of 32 percent; Conoco Phillips touts $3.1 billion for the same period, a 51 percent improvement; and Kerr-McGee heralds its own tripled earnings. To address this situation, in which suffering consumers are coughing up billions to swell the corporate bottom line, Mr. Bush's "energy bill" gives additional billions in taxpayer subsidies to the oil, gas and nuclear interests. Clearly the President (and the Vice President) feel that super-profits and the promise of ever-greater super-profits in the market aren't enough to encourage investment by America's patriotic energy companies. If our "way of life" is to continue, the Bush cronies must be paid from the federal treasury as well as the gas pump, where the current cost of filling up is no less than $50. They must also be allowed more latitude to pollute air and water, and less regulation of their propensity to gouge and manipulate the prices of gas and electricity. Source: "In new energy crisis, Bush rewards cronies" - by Joe Conason - The New York Observer - 08.10.05 [L]awmakers and critics attacked it as a wrongheaded giveaway at a time of huge energy company profits. They said it represented a missed opportunity to take serious steps to reduce the nation's reliance on imported oil or to cut American energy consumption. Much of the criticism of the legislation was tied to the billions of dollars that would flow to energy producers through tax breaks, relief from federal oil and gas royalties, grants for research into new ways to extract hard-to-reach deposits, loan guarantees and other financial aid. "It's outrageous that this bill helps line the pockets of the oil and gas industry, which is already making record profits," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, legislative director of the League of Conservation Voters. Senate negotiators [failed in their effort to force the inclusion of] a plan to require utilities to increase their use of renewable fuels in producing electricity and a proposal to direct the president to find ways to cut American oil use by one million barrels a day within 10 years. Conservation groups also denounced the defeat of the provisions to cut oil use and increase use of renewable fuels as well as the fact that the measure sidestepped the issue of global warming and ignored automotive mileage standards. They complained, too, that sections of the bill created new exemptions in some of the nation's bedrock environmental laws, like the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. "This bill is simply a failure," said Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and a senior member of the energy committee. "It is a huge waste of money." "It is a darn good bill, and it is going to help this country, and the sooner we get it done, the better," said Representative [Smokey] Joe L. Barton, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Source: Tucked away on page 1,391 of the 1,724-page energy bill approved by Congress this week is a new tax credit intended to make fuel-efficient vehicles like hybrids more appealing to consumers. But as is often the case with tax credits, the devil is in the details. The energy bill sets up a complex formula that begins restricting eligibility for the tax credit once an automaker sells 60,000 gas-electric hybrids or cleaner burning diesels, known as advanced lean-burn vehicles. By capping the credit, Congress has limited the incentives available to companies that have been at the forefront of hybrid technology. If President Bush signs the energy bill, the clock begins ticking on Jan. 1, 2006, the date the tax credit would take effect. This year alone, Toyota projects it will sell 140,000 hybrids. If sales continue at that level next year, Toyota could hit the 60,000-vehicle cap in the second quarter, giving it until the end of the third quarter before its cars and trucks become eligible only for a reduced tax credit. Honda faces a similar predicament. It estimates annual hybrid sales at 50,000, meaning its vehicles could become ineligible for the full credit sometime by mid-2007. That would be nearly two years before the credits expire Dec. 31, 2009. Source: "Congress Caps Credits for Hybrid Cars" By JEREMY W. PETERS - NY Times - July 30, 2005 In a true open market, oil prices would reflect all the costs of production, transport, use, and disposal. In our current situation, state and federal governments say, "Oh, you look tired, Big Oil. Drilling and selling must be hard. Just rest here while we make sure there are no remaining barriers to the dominance of your product." Then they take care of the highway system; tax gas at a lower rate than other consumer products; and protect the domestic oil supply by providing fire, police, and Coast Guard services. As for the global supply, well, we know where most of our military personnel are currently located. Imagine what oil would cost if the industry had to pay to protect and clean up its own shipments. If the environmental impact of burning petroleum were considered a cost. If Big Oil were held responsible for the particulate matter in our lungs. In my personal opinion, the main positive result of the anti-tobacco decade is a blueprint for going after Big Oil, and for punishing automobiles and their advocates as one big destructive, greedy death machine. Source: "Ask Umbra: Greasing their alms" grist magazine - 08.08.05 Senator Pete Domenici, Republican of New Mexico and chairman of the Energy Committee, included an amendment that guts restrictions on the export of highly enriched uranium, the same material used in the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The new law [allows] exports of bomb-grade uranium to foreign companies to rise to more than 100 pounds annually, thereby multiplying the odds that terrorists could steal enough for a bomb while the uranium is in transit to, or in storage at, foreign facilities. The actual driving factor is money. Firms that produce isotopes in Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands for export to the United States want to avoid the expense and inconvenience of converting their production processes to use the safer uranium. But American law had barred export of bomb-grade uranium to them, except on an interim basis if they were in the process of converting to the safer alternative. Rather than responsibly complying with this antiterrorism statute, the foreign producers cynically tried to eliminate it - and succeeded, thanks to Senator Domenici's intervention. Source: "The Energy Bill's Gift to Terrorists" By ALAN J. KUPERMAN - NY Times - August 11, 2005 In a version of the Transportation Bill passed by the House in March, [Alaska's lone member of the House of Representatives, Republican Don] Young managed to extract over $720 million of earmarks for Alaskan projects, an astonishing $1,150 per state resident. (The national average is $44.) Among the boondoggles are two bridges: a massively expensive "Bridge to Nowhere" connecting Ketchikan with a sparsely populated adjacent island, and a long bridge connecting Anchorage with communities across the Knik Arm. Source: "Stopping the Juneau Road" by Geov Parrish - WorkingForChange.com - 08.12.05 |
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