Deficit-Laden Congress Boosts Welfare Handouts to Profitable Corporations
Offshore Drilling Bill a Costly Giveaway
| Here is a news announcement from the group with the funny name -- "Republicans for Environmental Protection." |
House passage of legislation subsidizing expanded offshore drilling is a budget-busting giveaway, said Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), a national grassroots organization.
"This bill would lavish additional subsidies on highly profitable oil and gas companies. Too many of our elected representatives are still following a disastrous, business-as-usual path on energy policy, and burdening the taxpayers with more oil company giveaways to boot," said REP Government Affairs Director David Jenkins. "We will fight to defeat this unwise bill in the Senate."
"Beyond its enormous cost to taxpayers, this legislation threatens the economic well-being of tourism-dependent coastal communities by exposing them to potential oil spills and unsightly oil industry infrastructure. This is particularly risky in hurricane-prone areas, as some oil-coated communities in Louisiana have recently discovered," Jenkins said.
"Expanding oil drilling into sensitive marine waters and public lands fails to get at the root of the energy problem facing America today," REP Policy Director Jim DiPeso said. "We simply cannot achieve energy security by tying our future to oil. We sit atop less than 3 percent of world reserves, yet we use 25 percent of global production. Our country's high dependence on oil has resulted in a convergence of geopolitical, economic, and environmental stresses that, together, weaken America's security, drain dollars from our economy, and exacerbate the risks of global warming," DiPeso said. "Perpetuating oil dependence, as this bill does, will only make matters worse."
"America needs a strategic energy policy focused on greater efficiency and diversifying our energy resource base. Passing legislation to boost fuel economy standards to 33 miles per gallon would save 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, nearly twice as much as daily offshore production in federal waters during 2005. Weakening protection of vital coastal areas in a mad rush to drain every drop of oil does not serve our nation's interest. Neither does providing costly new giveaways, loopholes and entitlements to subsidize the highly profitable oil and gas industry," DiPeso said.
A total of 31 House Republicans voted against the bill. They included: Roscoe Bartlett (MD), Charles Bass (NH), Sherwood Boehlert (NY), Mary Bono (CA), Jeb Bradley (NH), John Campbell (CA), Michael Castle (DE), Jo Ann Davis (VA), Vern Ehlers (MI), Michael Ferguson (NJ), Mark Foley (FL), Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ), Wayne Gilchrest (MD), Katherine Harris (FL), Nancy Johnson (CT), Timothy Johnson (IL), Sue W. Kelly (NY), Mark Kirk (IL), Ray LaHood (IL), Jim Leach (IA), Frank LoBiondo (NJ), Connie Mack (FL), Jim Ramstad (MN), Dave Reichert (WA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), Jim Saxton (NJ), Clay Shaw (FL), Christopher Shays (CT), Rob Simmons (CT), Christopher Smith (NJ), and Curt Weldon (PA).
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Also see: Bush Seeks to Deepen U.S. Dependence on Oil
Republican Party Ethics Problem
True Conservatives Support Conservation |
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