[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 21 (Thursday, February 10, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INTRODUCTION OF THE ``END BIG OIL TAX SUBSIDIES ACT''

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                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 10, 2011

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, as Congress prepares to consider a 
draconian continuing resolution next week that will include painful 
cuts to important programs, I'm pleased to announce legislation that 
will save American taxpayers almost $40 billion over the next 5 years.
  Right now, Americans are subsidizing some of the largest and most 
profitable oil companies in the world with their tax dollars.
  This bill, the ``End Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act,'' would end 10 of the 
most egregious tax loopholes enjoyed by the oil industry--tax loopholes 
that have helped BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell make 
a combined profit of nearly $1 trillion over the past decade.
  In the tax code, we currently subsidize oil injection, extraction, 
exploration, drilling, manufacturing, pricing, and inventory valuing, 
by creating price floors, offsetting foreign taxes, providing generous 
credits and deductions, offering tax shelters, and allowing the 
valuation of inventories at deeply discounted prices.
  The well-established and extremely profitable oil industry no longer 
needs the help of American taxpayers. Their profit margins are enough 
incentive for them to keep doing what they're doing. As former 
President George W. Bush said in 2005, ``I will tell you with $55 oil 
we don't need incentives to the oil and gas companies to explore. There 
are plenty of incentives.''
  There are many better ways to spend $40 billion. It could be used to 
deficit or stave off some of the most painful cuts proposed by my 
Republican friends--such as LIHEAP funds, which help low-income 
Americans pay their utility bills so they can keep their heat on in the 
winter.
  We could also redirect the subsidies in the tax code to level the 
playing field for emerging technologies like wind and solar. This is 
where the jobs are: A University of Massachusetts study found that 
investment in clean energy creates anywhere from two to four times more 
direct and indirect jobs compared to the same investment in oil and gas 
production.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this important 
legislation.

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