House Approves New Oil Company Taxes

Source: Associated Press

By H. JOSEF HEBERT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Declaring a new direction in energy policy, the House on Saturday approved $16 billion in taxes on oil companies, while providing billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and conservation efforts.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Aug. 3, 2007. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

Republican opponents said the legislation ignored the need to produce more domestic oil, natural gas and coal. One GOP lawmaker bemoaned "the pure venom ... against the oil and gas industry."

The House passed the tax provisions by a vote of 221-189. Earlier it had approved, 241-172, a companion energy package aimed at boosting energy efficiency and expanding use of biofuels, wind power and other renewable energy sources.

"We are turning to the future," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070805/D8QQHQ080.html

doing what the sand box kids want :crazy: so they aren't doing anything.

zalinda

Less liberty, more taxes...yeah, they're doing something.

We do NOT "need" to produce more oil, natural gas, or oil. We NEED to begin reducing our dependence on it so WE DON'T HAVE TO produce or use more of it. THAT will only happen when oil, gas and coal companies are TAXED more heavily on their profits on them, whilst receiving tax breaks for renewable energy and conservation. OTHERWISE, THEY ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE and they MUST CHANGE NOW. We are OUT of time on this issue. It's not nothing to do with "venom" (poor witto victims...). It has to do with PURE NECESSITY and nothing else.

What Mr. Repig the Whining Parasite should have said is:

"the legislation ignored the DESIRE of the natural gas, oil, and coal industries to continue to lazily PROFIT more than they already are from the demand for gas, oil, and coal"

...because that's what it's about - PROFIT. And they can PROFIT just as well from developing renewable energy systems and resources and from conservation efforts - but they're FAT and LAZY and don't want to do it and they won't unless they are MADE to do it with just exactly the type of tax/incentives this legislation provides.

Now, bu$hit would never sign this because MOST OF THIS CRIME RING running this country (otherwise known as the bu$h administration) are FROM and have ties TO the oil, coal, and gas industries. So we know where their priorities are...

nonethless, kudos to the Dems. This is the best news I've seen all day and it's the ONLY thing I've seen all day that even remotely shows any common sense up there on Capitol Hill at all.

All other news here has been utterly disgusting today.

Ethanol? Hemp? Fairy dust?

I can see the GOPers pointing to this tax increase and saying "it's for your own good!" Could happen.

I think this should be just the start, next year tax them again.

There should be a tax on Computer/Software industry as well....those companies make way too much money.

They know gas prices affect everyone so this seems like a "look we did our jobs" moment. Protecting the people from unreasonably high gas prices helps, but when are they going to protect us from warrantless wire taps and domestic surveillance? Some day maybe.

As long as they're funding inefficient or implausible hoaxes like hydrogen and biofuels, this is going to do nothing for the long-term energy picture.

The situation is so dire that these "little steps" are completely worthless.

Just wait for it, it'll happen like clockwork.

Just earlier this week they were screaming about how the price of oil was gonna break all the records, but at the same time the price of gas has gone down forty cents a gallon.

Now it makes sense. They were trying to fix the vote.

How long before it shoots back up now???

Source: Associated Press via Yahoo

By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
Sun Aug 5, 9:02 AM ET



WASHINGTON - Declaring a new direction in energy policy, the House on Saturday approved $16 billion in taxes on oil companies, while providing billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and conservation efforts. Republican opponents said the legislation ignored the need to produce more domestic oil, natural gas and coal. One GOP lawmaker bemoaned "the pure venom ... against the oil and gas industry."

The House passed the tax provisions by a vote of 221-189. Earlier it had approved, 241-172, a companion energy package aimed at boosting energy efficiency and expanding use of biofuels, wind power and other renewable energy sources...The two bills, passed at an unusual Saturday session as lawmakers prepared to leave town for their monthlong summer recess, will be merged with legislation passed by the Senate in June.

On one of the most contentious and heavily lobbied issues, the House voted to require investor-owned electric utilities nationwide to generate at least 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind or biofuels...The bill also calls for more stringent energy efficiency standards for appliances and lighting and incentives for building more energy-efficient "green" buildings. It would
Democrats avoided a nasty fight by ignoring — at least for the time being — calls for automakers to make vehicles more fuel-efficient. Cars, sport utility vehicles and small trucks use most of the country's oil and produce almost one-third of the carbon dioxide emissions linked to global warming...That issue, as well as whether to require huge increases in the use of corn-based ethanol as a substitute for gasoline, were left to be thrashed out when the House bill is merged with energy legislation the Senate passed in June. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said he was confident the final bill that will go to President Bush will contain a significant increase in automobile fuel economy requirements.

....The White House indicated President Bush might veto the bill if he gets it saying it makes "no serious attempts to increase our energy security or address high energy costs" and would harm domestic oil and gas production. The bill would repeal for oil companies a tax breaks given in 2004 to help domestic manufacturers compete against foreign companies, and another tax break pertaining to income from foreign oil production. Critics of the two tax provisions called them loopholes that the industry had taken advantage of...The legislation would end a tax break for buying large SUVs, known as the "Hummer tax loophole" because it allows people who buy some of the most expensive SUVs to write off much of the cost.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070805/ap_on_go_co/congress_energy;_ylt=AttvcymeSD90VutjhHE996is0NUE

One GOP lawmaker bemoaned "the pure venom ... against the oil and gas industry."

And take control/wealth out of the hands of the few families who control them --

Democrats avoided a nasty fight by ignoring — at least for the time being — calls for automakers to make vehicles more fuel-efficient. Cars, sport utility vehicles and small trucks use most of the country's oil and produce almost one-third of the carbon dioxide emissions linked to global warming...

The White House indicated President Bush might veto the bill if he gets it saying it makes "no serious attempts to increase our energy security or address high energy costs" . . . end


Making automobiles more efficient would create jobs, fight global warming, and reduce consumption, thus reducing prices at the pump. All of this would make us safer and address high costs, which is what mprenit says he wants. Of course, we know what he really meant was making oil companies profits higher will bring down prices...right?

The bill would repeal for oil companies a tax breaks given in 2004 to help domestic manufacturers compete against foreign companies, and another tax break pertaining to income from foreign oil production. Critics of the two tax provisions called them loopholes that the industry had taken advantage of...

I know I sure don't want oil companies getting special tax rates for their Iraqi plunder. They should be paying an extra tax on that to help repay the American people for underwriting their conquest.

I think the public is waking up to the fact that we need progressive income taxes -- the wealthier you are, the more you pay. Corps are now paying hugely less than they've ever paid . . . way lower than in the 1950's. You'd have to call out the militia now to return them to those figures!!!!

And I hope that the public is coming to understand that the threats we face are Global Warming and infrastructure failure -- i.e., GOP-Third-World-America.

It's not the Russians nor the terrorists we have to fear --
it's the Republicans -- !!!!!!

oil companies will just raise prices to compensate for the loss and keep making huge profits and laugh at the efforts to bring our energy policies into reality.