National Energy Bill Keeps America Speeding Down Wrong Road

Media Contacts

Arizona PIRG

The day after ExxonMobil posted record-breaking profits, the U.S. Congress has passed an energy bill that rewards Exxon and other big oil companies with $4 billion in new subsidies.

“Instead of reducing America’s oil consumption and protecting consumers at the gasoline pump, the bill lavishes tax breaks, subsidies and environmental exemptions for oil companies such as Exxon,” said Diane E. Brown, Executive Director for the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (Arizona PIRG).

Instead of adopting the U.S. Senate passed renewable energy standard to increase clean renewable energy generation, the bill forces American taxpayers to subsidize the construction of six new nuclear plants and more than a dozen coal plants. 

Instead of requiring reductions in global warming pollution, the bill provides more than $13.1 billion in new tax breaks for the major sources of this pollution, the oil, coal and gas industry.The bill also paves the way for future drilling off currently protected coastlines and preempts states rights in citing dangerous Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities and transmission lines.

Topics