So is the average American taxpayer going to win one of these battles with Big Oil? Without publicly financed elections, I wouldn't bet on it any time soon.
Big Oil blocked yet another common sense measure--investment in renewable energy--on the Senate floor yesterday.
In a victory for the oil industry, Republican lawmakers successfully blocked a crucial component of the Democratic plan that would have raised taxes on oil companies by about $32 billion and used the money on tax breaks for wind power, solar power, ethanol and other renewable fuels.
Yes, that'd be investing in a future of renewable energy by taxing
these folks:
Exxon Mobil sets annual profit record
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. posted the largest annual profit in U.S. history Thursday....
For the year, Exxon Mobil earned $39.5 billion, up from its previous record $36.1 billion in 2005.
So the Senate couldn't pass a bill to tax oil companies, whose heavy hitters routinely set
all-time profit records while receiving billions in government subsidies, in order to invest in chronically underfunded
clean, renewable energy programs? Apparently that's Big Oil's prize in return for
$200 million in campaign contributions.
"Clean elections" laws, such as the Fair Elections Now Act, are not simply about campaign reform and open government. They're about policies, like fossil fuels vs. renewable energy, that pit special interests against the general public, and result in too many quotes like
The combination of breakthroughs and setbacks highlighted the blocking power of the entrenched industry groups, from oil companies and electric utilities to car manufacturers, that had blanketed Congress in recent days to defend their interests.
The clashes and impasses also provided a harbinger of potentially bigger obstacles when Democrats try to pass legislation this fall to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases tied to global warming.
Global warming, huh? That's a problem we can all agree we need to work on, so that should be an easy bill to pass. No special interests will oppose that, right?
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