Back during the last SOTU speech President Obama inspired some hope, in this Green-Eco-heart of mine ...
STATE OF THE UNION: Obama pushes clean energy as part of his new centrist agenda
Katherine Ling, E&E reporter, E&E Publishing, LLC -- 01/26/2011
[Obama's] call to eliminate the "billions in taxpayer dollars" in subsidies to oil companies received a decidedly partisan response: Democrats for the most part cheered; Republicans sat on their hands. One member said loudly in response that the companies were "all international," indicating the repeal would not save any money to fund innovation.
Still, Obama insisted, "I don't know if you've noticed, but they're doing just fine on their own. So instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy, let's invest in tomorrow's."
Good to see, that the President has identified, and CALLED OUT the Energy Elephant in the room -- and just where the Country SHOULD be picking up some of that "shared" Revenue from
-- that the Fiscal Hawks are clamoring for -- from "Oil Company Subsidies" -- and recoup those BILLIONS that the Country so desperately needs.
Hmmm? What Do you call a Fiscal Hawk that is only fiscally responsible "once in a blue moon"?
... A Blue Moon Chicken-Hawk? ... all those Bush Wars were "free" right? -- because they were "Off-Budget", right? That's what they said then, when they were in their Fiscal Binge period ...
(They sure are "cranky" when they finally wake up, eh?)
How many BILLIONS in E-Z Revenue could America stand to gain by simply STOPPING THE GIVE-AWAYS to Big Oil and Gas?
Well here again, President Obama has estimated a gain of $36.5 billion a year is possible.
Too bad Oil Industry Front Groups "representatives" see the matter from an entire different smokey-lens.
Obama Moves To Cut Oil Industry Subsidies
Yepoka Yeebo, The Huffington Post -- 02/1/2011
President Obama will propose nixing around $36.5 billion a year in oil and gas company subsidies and tax breaks in his new budget, set to be released later this month. [...]
The argument against for keeping the subsidies? A top oil industry lobbyist told the NYT that cutting the subsidies would damage the economy:
"This is a tired old argument we've been hearing for two years now," said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry's main lobby in Washington. "If the president were serious about job creation, he would be working with us to develop American oil and gas by American workers for American consumers."
Mr. Gerard noted that there was bipartisan opposition to lifting the tax breaks, adding: "The federal government by no stretch of the imagination subsidizes the oil industry. The oil industry subsidizes the federal government at a rate of $95 million a day."
Must be more of that "GOP fuzzy math" ...
Here's another Energy spokesperson from the Chamber, telling Congress that they 'should just leave Oil and Gas alone!'
For Seventh Straight Hearing, House Natural Resources Committee Shills For Big Oil
ThinkProgress -- The Wonk Room -- 2011/03/31
Our guest blogger is Christy Goldfuss, Public Lands Project Director at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Big Oil also was defended by the Republican majority witness from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Karen Alderman Harbert. When Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) asked whether Harbert supported the billions of taxpayer subsidies that go to Big Oil, she refused to give a yes or no answer. She instead tried to squeeze in a pitch for why Big Oil subsidies are necessary, even with billions in profits. She feels that denying those subsidies would be unfairly, “singling out the oil and gas industry and penalizing it.”
Taking away Big Oil Tax Subsidies -- would amount to 'penalizing' them -- for their success, I guess? Shoot then, Why don't we just give them $5 a gallon, everytime we fill up -- that would be only fair to them, right Harbert?
Well here's a different Tact, perhaps the US Military should send Big Oil the Tab for 'protective services rendered' ?
That might get their attention:
Price Of Oil: Hidden Oil Subsidies
huffingtonpost.com -- 07-3-2008
Hidden Oil Subsidies
The real price of gasoline is what people actually pay for it, not just what they pay for it at the pump. [...]
A more comprehensive study that includes the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and other oil protection services [in addition to "safeguarding oil supplies in the Middle East" ...] shows that actual subsidies to Big Oil are between $78 to $158 billion (again, with a 'b') per year.
Hmmm? I thought Big Oil had their own Armies? No. Hmmm that's Notable.
But once again, I like Obama's SOTU reasoning: "I don't know if you've noticed, but they're doing just fine on their own."
Those are OUR Tax Subsidy Dollars -- we SHOULD be investing them "in tomorrow's [energy]" today. (Yaay!)
Just have to rearrange the sectors on this Energy Subsidy Pie Chart a bit ...
Energy Subsidies Black, Not Green
Environmental Law Institute
A study released by the Environmental Law Institute, a nonpartisan research and policy organization, shows that the federal government has provided substantially larger subsidies to fossil fuels than to renewables. Subsidies to fossil fuels totaled approximately $72 billion over the seven-year study period, while subsidies for renewable fuels totaled $29 billion over the same period.
[ Environmental Law Institute ] Larger Image
Some people in the House Committee, debating these issues, Get It. And some don't ...
that Big Oil is a Sacred "Cash Cow" -- which Takes MUCH MORE, than they give back.
House Natural Resources Committee Talks Gas Prices, Part II
Natural Resources Defense Council -- switchboard.nrdc.org
Deron Lovaas’s Blog -- March 31, 2011
Continuing live coverage of the hearing happening now on Capitol Hill:
[...]
11:33 Rep. DeFazio asks tough questions about how much Big Oil pays in taxes; thanks to subsidies and tax breaks they don't pay as much as they should (DeFazio claims ZERO in income taxes in recent years).
11:36 DeFazio underscores the reality -- we are beholden to OPEC as long as we're addicted to oil.
[...]
11:48 For the record, Big Oil spent more than $146 million lobbying Congress in 2010 alone.
[...]
11:50 Harbert seems to feel there's no difference between a mature industry and one that's just getting of the ground. Renewables should get some help from taxpayers. Does Big Oil need our hard-earned tax dollars to stay in business? Um, I don't think so...
[...]
12:00 Graves says we need an economy not fueled by petroleum. That's exactly right.
12:01 Eliminating Big Oil subsidies would help drive the deficit down.
12:02 Almost 90 percent of the world's proved oil reserves are owned by nations, not private companies. This is not a free market.
12:04 BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell made profits of nearly $1 trillion in the past decade.
[...]
12:08 Hearing adjourned.
Well President Obama was talking about "clean energy" today.
April Fools! No really ... he did.
Sadly though, he did not mention the Oil Subsidy Cash Cow like he did in the State of the Union address, this time around. But some of the Energy Goals he did set, were 'encouraging' in a "let's get off the dime" sort of way ...
Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
Clean Fleet Partnership
Landover, Maryland
April 1, 2011 -- Time.com
President Obama:
[...]
I gave a speech about this earlier in the week, and laid out a blueprint that will put America on a path toward a clean energy future. I know a lot of folks have been feeling the pinch of higher gas prices lately -- whether you’re filling up your tank or running a business like UPS. And usually it’s times like these when everyone starts saying we should do something about our dependence on oil. And when prices go back down, we forget about it, and move on to the next crisis.
But my point is, that can’t be how we conduct our energy policy in this country. We can’t keep going from shock to trance, rushing to propose action when gas prices rise, then hitting the snooze button when they fall. At a time when we’re witnessing instability overseas, we know this is a national security issue. But we also know that it’s a huge economic issue.
[...]
So, we got good news today. But now, we have to keep that momentum going. And making the transition to a clean energy economy will help us do that in two very important ways: first, it reduces the chance that our families, our businesses, and our economy will be held hostage to the whims of the oil market. Second, investments in clean energy have the potential to create an untold number of new jobs and new industries right here in the United States.
For all these reasons, I set a new goal for America: When I was elected to this office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one third. That is achievable, it’s necessary, and for the sake of our future, we will get it done.
[...]
Now, this Clean Fleets Partnership is just part of a broader effort we’ve been making over the past couple of years to promote fuel-efficient vehicles and build a clean energy economy. Last year, after going about thirty years without raising fuel-efficiency standards, we finally put in place a national fuel-efficiency standard for cars and trucks. As a result, our cars will get better gas mileage, ultimately saving an expected 1.8 billion barrels of oil.
[...]
[emphasis add by diarist]
Well, at this rate we'll all have an "affordable" Electric Car, by the time Big Oil is delivering to us that $12 a Gallon 'precious petro' at the pump.
It'll be nice to have "a Choice" by then, won't it?
Well, it's a Start.
And in some apparently unscripted remarks(?) today the President also addressed the bigger "infrastructure issue" -- that may be keeping those Hybrid cars from running any cross-country rallies ...
Analysis: Support for Biofuels in Obama's Energy Speech Holds Promise for Green Heating Oil
Josh Garrett, heatingoil.com - blog -- April 1, 2011
President Obama:
One of the biggest problems we have with alternative energy is not just producing the energy, but also distributing it. We’ve got gas stations all around the country, so whenever you need gas you know you can fill up -- it doesn’t matter where you are. Well, we’ve got to have that same kind of distribution network when it comes to our renewable energy sources so that when you are converting to a different kind of car that runs on a different kind of energy, you’re going to be able to have that same convenience. Otherwise, the market won’t work; it won’t grow.
[emphasis add by diarist]
Hmmm? that is a Problem. We really SHOULD DO something about that, "distribution" -- shouldn't we? Might have to "hire a few folks" to make that happen ...
Maybe IF we had about $36 Billion Dollars in extra Revenue each year -- Maybe we could?