OIL & GAS SUBSIDIES: $6 BILLION in new subsidies in 2005 energy bill alone

Below is a summary of the major components of the 2005 federal energy legislation:

Section 1329
Allows “geological and geophysical” costs associated with oil exploration to be written off faster than present law, costing taxpayers over $1.266 billion from 2007-2015. The provision claims to raise $292 million from 2005-06, and cost taxpayers $1.266 billion from 2007-2015. It originated in the House (there was no such provision in the original Senate bill). Record-high oil prices should provide a sufficient incentive for oil companies like ExxonMobil to drill for more oil without this huge new tax break.

Section 1323
Allows owners of oil refineries to expense 50% of the costs of equipment used to increase the refinery’s capacity by at least 5%, costing taxpayers $842 million from 2006-11 (the estimate claims the provision will actually raise $436 million from 2012-15). This provision was added by the Senate. Record high prices for oil and gasoline, and record profits by refiners like ExxonMobil and Valero should provide all the incentive needed to expand refinery capacity without this huge tax break.
Sections 1325-6
This tax break allows natural gas companies to save $1.035 billion by depreciating their property at a much faster rate. This tax break makes no economic sense, as natural gas prices remain at record high levels, and these high prices—not tax breaks—should be all the incentive the industry needs to invest in gathering and distribution lines.
Section 342
Allows oil companies drilling on public land to pay taxpayers in oil rather than in cash.

Sections 344-345
Waives royalty payments for drilling for some natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico.
Section 346
Waives royalty payments for drilling in offshore Alaska.
Sections 353-4
Waives royalty payments for gas hydrate extraction on the Outer Continental Shelf and public land in Alaska.

Section 383
Allows oil companies drilling in federal land off the coast of a particular state to pay the state 44 cents of every dollar it would have paid to the federal government for the privilege of drilling on federal land.
The royalty-in-kind provisions in this section allow corporations drilling for oil on public land to forgo paying cash royalties to taxpayers. Instead, companies provide an amount of the oil as an in-kind contribution to the federal government. Since federal land supplies one-third of the oil and gas produced in the United States, expansion of this program could have a significant impact on the federal treasury.

www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/energybill/2005/articles.cfm?ID=13980
http://www.taxpayer.net/energy/oil-gas.htm

It's a rumor, of course, but it's something I heard somewhere.

It's a hell of a lot more expensive that 6 billion bucks.

A significant Iraq casualty: Your standard of living –Robert Reich

The cost of the Iraq war is estimated at between $1 trillion and $3 trillion. But commentator Robert Reich says as big as that number is right now, it's going to hurt us more in the future.

A dollar spent in Iraq is a dollar we do not have to spend here, not only repairing our own bridges, roads and water and sewage systems, but also giving Americans access to health insurance and our children access to good schools, fully funding Social Security and Medicare, investing adequately in non-carbon based energy sources and green technologies and borrowing less from abroad.
In other words, the real economic cost of the Iraqi War doesn't show up in the business cycle. It will show up years from now in a standard of living that for most Americans will be significantly lower than we might have enjoyed, because we spent trillions on a war in Iraq rather than investing here in America.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/04/09/reich_commentary