The
day after ExxonMobil posted record-breaking profits, the U.S. Congress
has passed an energy bill that rewards Exxon and other big oil
companies with $4 billion in new subsidies.
“Instead
of reducing America’s oil consumption and protecting consumers at the
gasoline pump, the bill lavishes tax breaks, subsidies and
environmental exemptions for oil companies such as Exxon,” said Diane
E. Brown, Executive Director for the Arizona Public Interest Research
Group (Arizona PIRG).
Instead
of adopting the U.S. Senate passed renewable energy standard to
increase clean renewable energy generation, the bill forces American
taxpayers to subsidize the construction of six new nuclear plants and
more than a dozen coal plants.
Instead
of requiring reductions in global warming pollution, the bill provides
more than $13.1 billion in new tax breaks for the major sources of this
pollution, the oil, coal and gas industry.The bill also paves the way
for future drilling off currently protected coastlines and preempts
states rights in citing dangerous Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
facilities and transmission lines.
