Praise: Bernie Sanders and Keith Ellison take on Big Oil

From Senator Sanders' website:

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Keith Ellison on Thursday introduced legislation to end billions of dollars in oil, coal and gas subsidies. "We are here today not just to announce new legislation, but to send a message that it is time to end the absurdity of taxpayers providing massive subsidies to hugely profitable fossil fuel corporations," Sanders told a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol. "In these difficult economic times, it is imperative that we support the taxpayers of this country and not the fossil fuel industry - one of the most powerful special interests in the world," he added.

Joining Sanders at a news conference, Ellison noted that big oil companies make more than $300 million every day. "Why should Americans prop up these companies with tax dollars and have to pay ridiculous fuel prices?" he asked. "We need to get off the fossil fuel bandwagon that keeps us dependent on oil and contributes to climate change.  The $113 billion in taxpayer handouts that oil, gas, and coal companies receive should be used to invest in green jobs. It's time for this corporate welfare to end."

The measure would do away with tax breaks, financial assistance, royalty relief, direct federal research and development and many loopholes that benefit the fossil fuel industry. Under current law, more than $113 billion in federal subsidies would go to oil, coal and gas industries in the coming decade.

Doing a little quick research online, I found the following:  The net profit for the first quarter of 2012 for Chevron was 6.471 Billion Dollars.  The net profit for the first quarter of 2012 for Exxon Mobil was 9.45 Billion Dollars.  This was not the gross profit, it was net.

I did not find the quarterly report for BP, but for the full year of 2011 the net profit for BP was 26.097 Billion Dollars.  Again, this is net not gross.  In all three cases it is billion with a B.

I do not object to companies making money.  If they can make a lot of money, that's good too.  But, subsidizing their profit is where I have a problem.  They should be taxed like small companies are.

Speaker Boehner and the House GOP are sure to block this legislation.  But it is good that Senator Sanders of Vermont and Representative Ellison of Minnesota are offering the legislation.  Better would be seeing it pass.

Repudiation: Republicans on Energy Production

We all remember the chant from 2008, Drill, Baby, Drill.  This year the Republican contenders are of the same opinion, if not using the same words.

The first step will be a rational and streamlined approach to regulation, which would facilitate rapid progress in the development of our domestic reserves of oil and natural gas and allow for further investment in nuclear power. -- Mitt Romney.

As long as we allow federal regulations and bureaucratic red tape to get in the way of energy exploration, our country will never solve its energy crisis, and Americans will continue to pay the price in high costs. -- Ron Paul.

Today's high gas and energy prices are entirely a function of bad government policies. -- Newt Gingrich.

We believe that U.S. transportation energy should be addressed through increased domestic oil exploration and production, incorporating other energy sources as they become more economically competitive. The level of delay in the current leasing and permitting system is unacceptable, and prevents American companies from developing American resources. -- Rick Perry.

[W]e must start by eliminating the Obama Administration's roadblocks to oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, along the Outer Continental Shelf, and onshore - including in ANWR.  Furthermore, no new natural gas regulations, such as those being debated by Congress, should be enacted. -- Rick Santorum.

Those are today's top five according to recent polling.  Effectively, we are not producing enough domestic energy, so drill baby drill.

The problem with this fervor, aside from the devastating impact on our environment, is that we are producing domestic oil.  In fact, according to an article at today's Stars and Stripes, petroleum is the biggest 2011 export from the United States.

Measured in dollars, the nation is on pace this year to ship more gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel than any other single export, according to U.S. Census data going back to 1990. It will also be the first year in more than 60 that America has been a net exporter of these fuels.

To be clear, we are also still importing vast amounts of fuel.  But the global energy markets are complex and petroleum is a fungible commodity.  And there is a price to pay for such exports.

There's at least one domestic downside to America's growing role as a fuel exporter. Experts say the trend helps explain why U.S. motorists are paying more for gasoline. The more fuel that's sent overseas, the less of a supply cushion there is at home.

Gasoline supplies are being exported to the highest bidder, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. "It's a world market," he says.

Refining companies won't say how much they make by selling fuel overseas. But analysts say those sales are likely generating higher profits per gallon than the fuel sold in the U.S. Otherwise, they wouldn't occur.

The price is a price that we, American consumers, pay while oil companies rake in the profits.

The five Big Oil companies earned over $32 billion in profits in the third-quarter of 2011, bring their overall profits for 2011 to a staggering $101 billion.

All of the Republican contenders are opposed to additional regulations for oil companies.  They want fewer regulations, more environmental degradation, and we pay at the gas pump.  Drill baby drill.  Enough!