Bushies vote no on efficiency and conservation, yes on huge Big Oil welfare.
WASHINGTON - The House approved nearly $19 billion in tax breaks Friday for energy companies and power producers and set up a showdown with the Senate over energy policy, particularly oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge.
The House-passed bill includes sweeping incentives for oil and gas development and a mix of tax and other financial breaks aimed at promoting the traditional fossil fuel industries.
And it revived the long-standing fight over whether to allow oil companies access to the millions of barrels of crude oil beneath the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Three weeks ago, the Senate rejected drilling in ANWR, as the refuge is called, and Democratic senators — including several running for president — have vowed to block any energy bill that would expose the refuge to development. ANWR drilling has been a top White House energy goal.
The House and Senate also are taking different paths on energy tax incentives.
More than two-thirds of the $18.7 billion House proposal, covering 10 years, is aimed at helping natural gas, coal, and oil development. A slightly cheaper tax measure — about $16 billion — in the Senate focuses more on renewable energy, like development of wind power. Unlike the House, the Senate also gives a tax incentive to spur construction of an Alaska gas pipeline.
The House bill was approved 247-175 after lawmakers rejected Democratic amendments to encourage energy conservation and reduce production subsidies. A proposal to require automobiles and sport utility vehicles to use 5 percent less fuel by 2010 failed, as did an attempt to eliminate the ANWR drilling.
(* Bushies offer big-time payback to big-time campaighn contributors. 19 billion of our money to Big Oil and polluters, but no laws to save energy. That's un-American) |
