Wyka responds to Frelinghuysen's Energy Vote

by: Tom Wyka

Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 10:12:27 PM EST

In addition, I don?t need to rehash points set forth about Global Warming.  Just about everyone has heard it all before.  Sadly, people seem to find themselves on either side of the argument depending on what television pundits they view most often, rather than based on the warnings of the scientific community.
 

It?s with this in mind that the House of Representatives recently voted to roll back a subsidy that was given to oil companies a few years back (yes ? that?s right ? a subsidy to corporations that regularly score record profits), and use the money to research renewable energy.   The bill is called the ?Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008,? ? HR 5351.   Only 3 of the 13 members of the New Jersey contingent stand opposed to this idea, Scott Garrett, Mike Ferguson, and our own Rodney Frelinghuysen.

The subsidies were handed out under the premise that they were intended to be an incentive for investment in production.   Unfortunately ? the oil companies had other plans.   Many used most of their windfall profits, augmented by the subsidy, to buy back stocks and pay dividends to their shareholders.    Not a bad deal.

In his weekly newsletter, Congressman Frelinghuysen said ?These costs are sure to be passed along to cash-strapped families and will put more undue stress on our slowing economy.? This sounded like a fair argument ? until one realizes that this is not a tax assessed at the pump.   As Joan Claybrook, President of Public Citizen pointed out ?Motorists will not pay higher prices at the pump for repealing Big Oil subsidies because increased taxes on corporate income are paid by shareholders, not consumers.?   Congressman Frelinghuysen?s logic is also a bit flawed overall, because it leaves out the fact that a subsidy ultimately comes out of someone?s pocket.   In this case ? it?s the American taxpayer.

So one has to wonder how much critical thought is being expended on our behalf to find real solutions to the problem of our ?addiction to oil?.  Sounds like rehab is in order, if only our elected officials would stop acting as ?enablers?.

The Oil and Gas Industries have dropped about 590 million dollars lobbying our lawmakers in D.C. since 1998, and interestingly enough ? they only rank 8th (far behind Pharma?s 1.3 billion ? but that?s a commentary for another day).    Here again we have one more example of the stunting of good public policy, courtesy of powerful deep-pocketed interests.

The Senate is now poised to move HR 5351 one step closer to the White House, where the President has predictably stated an intention to veto the bill. Our congressman and George W. Bush will stand in solidarity with Big Oil and their record profits, under the guise of protecting you, while thwarting yet another attempt to change course for the better.