Democrats Agenda; Repeal Of Some Oil Industry Tax Breaks

November 19, 2006 3:08 p.m. EST


Linda Young - All Headline News Staff Writer


Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Democrats are planning legislation that would put the brakes on some of the president's push to use non-renewable energy sources over the past six years.
Now that the Democrats will have some power in Congress, the party is planning to push legislation that would repeal billions of dollars of tax breaks for oil companies.
The incoming house speaker has mentioned energy as being one of her priorities. Nancy Pelosi promised to foster more energy independence for the nation "by rolling back the multibillion dollar subsidies for Big Oil," CNN news reported.
But observers say that a more comprehensive energy bill to encourage renewable energy sources and conservation will likely not occur until later, because the Democrat's majority in Congress is too narrow.
That means no tax on the oil industry's windfall profits from gas price hikes and no new increases in automobile fuel economy in the near future.
At the top of Democrat's list for repeal are the tax breaks from the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Washington Post reported Sunday. That bill gave tax breaks to expand oil refineries and for geological studies that help find oil. And also a tax credit if they drill in the U.S. instead of elsewhere.
The Democrats argue that the industry has such high profits from soaring crude oil prices that those tax benefits are unceccessary. It is also expected that Democrats might impose higher taxes for any new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico