OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2007
Contact: In DC - Brandon MacGillis (202) 225-4431
In CO - Chris Arend (303) 844-4988 
 
 
 
 WASHINGTON, DC – Chief Deputy Whip Diana DeGette (D-CO) voted today for legislation to cut giveaways to bill oil companies and invest in clean energy technology. 
 

“Today Congress took the first real step towards giving our nation a 21st Century energy policy,” said DeGette.  “For too long, the only type of energy plan Republicans advanced involved drilling in the Arctic or giving more handouts to Big Oil.  This bill starts to correct those shortsighted policies by repealing taxpayer funded giveaways to oil companies and redirecting that money towards clean renewable energy.”

The bill, the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007 (H.R. 6), takes important steps towards a smarter energy future by:

- Repealing $14 billion in subsidies given to the largest oil companies and investing those funds in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency. 
 
- Ensuring oil companies that were awarded the 1998 and 1999 leases for drilling pay their fair share in royalties.  

- Closing loopholes and ending giveaways for Big Oil in the tax code and in the 2005 Energy bill. 

- Creating a Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve to invest in clean, renewable energy resources and alternative fuels, promote new energy technologies, develop greater efficiency and improve energy conservation.
 

H.R. 6 includes a similar provision to one that Rep. DeGette introduced in 2006 to revoke a massive tax giveaway in the 2005 Energy Bill.  This giveaway allowed the largest oil and gas companies to amortize certain exploration costs over two years, effectively reducing their federal tax bills (Section 1329).  Rep. DeGette introduced H.R. 5226, the “Energy Fairness Act,” which repealed this unnecessary handout.  H.R. 6 includes a provision that dramatically reduces this exploration subsidy by extending the amortization period to seven years, saving the government hundreds of millions of dollars.

“At a time of such high oil prices and record industry profits, allowing the world’s largest oil companies to write off exploration expenses is not a good use of taxpayer funds,” said Rep. DeGette.  “This bill is the first installment in the Democrats plan to take our nation’s energy policy in a new direction.  We will continue to put forward legislation that will help consumers at the pump, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and address the threat of climate change.”

###