Oil
Mica Warns Boxer on Highway Trust Fund; House Plans Hearing on “Drill Bill”
“I want to congratulate you on your Committee’s approval of the ‘Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” begins House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica’s letter yesterday to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee.
November 15, 2011
Coming Soon: Super-Partisan “Oil-For-Infrastructure” Transpo Bill
“In the coming weeks, House Republicans will formally introduce an energy & infrastructure jobs bill, and hope to move the legislation through the House before the end of the year,” House Speaker John Boehner announced yesterday.
November 4, 2011
Republicans Have Their Own Plan to Pay for Infrastructure Jobs: Oil Drilling
President Obama has proposed a plan to pay for the American Jobs Act, the $447 billion bill to create 1.9 million jobs, including $50 billion for infrastructure. His "pay-for" plan includes limitations on itemized deductions for the wealthy and the elimination of some tax loopholes for oil and gas companies.
September 30, 2011
Exxon: ‘One Mega-Highway, Please.’ Texas: ‘Coming Right Up’
It's generally difficult to determine exactly how and to what extent the shadowy hand of Big Oil is at work in our publicly funded infrastructure decisions.
September 13, 2011
Big Oil Lobbies to Keep Its Tax Breaks Off the Table in Debt Talks
Deron Lovaas is the federal transportation policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. This story is cross-posted on his blog.
July 15, 2011
So Many Subsidies for Big Oil, So Little Political Will to End Them
Lisa Margonelli, director of the New America Foundation’s Energy Productivity Initiative, hit the nail on the head on the problem with Congressional action on oil subsidies. Yesterday, she wrote in Politico that ending Exxon's unjustifiable tax breaks would be nice, but there are far more egregious examples of U.S. government handouts to big oil:
May 13, 2011
Republicans Still Swear Drill, Baby, Drill Is the Best Way to Lower Gas Prices
Democrats and Republicans are jockeying for the title of Gas Price Slasher, though neither party has a plan that has any potential to reduce prices. While Democrats propose cutting oil company subsidies, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) has introduced three bills to expand oil drilling, saying that they’ll spur employment in the Gulf and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
May 4, 2011
Retired Military Leaders, Corporate CEOs: Driving Alone Aids Terrorists
What do the president of FedEx, the former Director of National Intelligence, and 19 other business and military leaders have in common? They’re urging the U.S. to adopt less oil-intensive transportation habits. They say our national security depends on it.
February 10, 2011
BP, Toyota, and the Illusion of the Car System Techno-Fix
Last Christmas, an Oregon couple driving with their baby in the backseat followed erroneous GPS instructions and got stranded on wilderness roads in a Cascades snowstorm. Twelve hours later, they had given up hope and taped a farewell video. While a rescue party fortunately was able to save them, they no doubt wished they hadn’t allowed their belief in modern electronics to override their own clear eyes and good instincts.
August 5, 2010