Yes, you, Mr. and Ms. American Taxpayer. And you're not just paying once. Nope, you are paying in triplicate.
According to Drew Sloan and Matt Garrington at The Hill, BP will be able to write off $13 billion dollars in cleanup expenses on its taxes...
That means we foot the bill. Not only in taxes, but in illness and death, lost jobs, and environmental degradation. And, to add insult to injury, that $13 billion figure is not the whole pie. There is another $15 billion dollars in subsidies and various tax breaks bestowed on the oil and gas industry every year.
Then you get to pay for the third time when you fill your tank. That gas is expensive, isn't it?
And when you hear the hooting and shrieking about "drill here, drill now" just remember that all oil and gas from anywhere is an openly-traded commodity, sold on the open market to the highest bidder, no matter where it comes from. The crude under the Gulf and in Alaska is not "our" gas. It belongs to BP, ExxonMobil, et.al. - they own it, and they can sell it anywhere they want for as much as they want. What would definitely help is getting past the fact that the US consumes about half of the planet's oil. That is just too damn much. And other industrialized countries are more efficient:
The United Kingdom, for example, is roughly 70% more efficient. Germany is roughly 50% more efficient. If we approached these levels of efficiency, that means we could continue to grow our economy but use less oil to do it. And, given our population and the fact that we consume so much petroleum, even a small improvement in efficiency could make a huge difference.
Okay, back to the original story... Here's the breakdown as to how we foot the bill for oil company profits:
The American drilling industry is nearly at pre-recession levels and approaching a 20-year high in activity.
• America is the world’s third largest producer of oil and the world’s largest producer of natural gas.
• Oil companies reported over $64 billion in profits for the first half of 2011, and spent $39,562,199 in lobbying Congress to protect another $43 billion in corporate tax breaks.
The truth is that oil and gas companies have failed to develop 6,500 onshore drilling permits where they have a green light to drill. And, 57 percent of all onshore leases and 70 percent of all offshore leases have yet to be developed. Over-regulation and access to domestic natural resources are simply not an issue.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA-4) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI-6) both say they’re in favor of an all of the above energy strategy. Unfortunately for American families, actions speak louder than words. Hastings and Upton say “All of the Above,” but their actions prove they mean “Oil Above All".
No shit, Sherlock...
As the authors of the Hill piece point out, we - "we" meaning the American people - have to get a handle on oil consumption and lack of efficiency. If Great Britain and Germany can be that much more efficient in their use of oil, so can we.
It will never happen from the top down in this political climate. It has to be from the bottom up, and we know what we face there - a basically lazy, greedy, and willfully clueless electorate.
So we will continue with business as usual, paying exorbitant fees to people who are intent on screwing us, our children and grandchildren, and the environment - while we eat chips, drink beer, and watch Michael Jackson's doctor's trial and Gene Simmons' wedding...
Nothing will change...
Sorry for the rant. We now return to our regularly scheduled semi-news post. (h/t Phil S 33)
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