Drilling for subsidies: Capitol’s priorities out of sync by Andrew Moylan
The Bear on Sep 22 2008 at 8:26 am | Filed under: Energy Policy
Many members of Congress spent a great deal of their five-week vacation twiddling their thumbs while Americans’ calls for greater domestic energy production grew to a deafening roar. As a response, the House has passed a sham bill that won’t quiet public concerns. Now, it’s the Senate’s turn, where some lawmakers have crafted a bipartisan solution called the “Gang of 10.” Unfortunately, this too contains far more bad than good policies. Like shady used-car salesmen, the Gang is attempting to use extremely limited drilling as the bait for enactment of an enormous package of ever-higher taxes and subsidies.
Though it seems to promise some additional domestic production, the Gang’s energy scheme (which now has 20 cosponsors, 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans) fails miserably to deliver on the will of two-thirds of Americans who want more petroleum exploration. Instead, it pays mere lip service to offshore drilling while rehashing the counterproductive policies of subsidizing politically favored industries and punishing others with tax hikes – ultimately raising prices for consumers.
The centerpiece of the proposal is an expansion of off-shore oil and gas drilling. That looks good on its face, but the reality doesn’t live up to the hype.
Read more from The Washington Times
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