MARKEY: EXXONMOBIL USES OUTLANDISH PROFITS TO LOBBY AGAINST EFFORTS TO PROTECT TAXPAYER
Washington, DC - Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources Committees, blasted the announcement of ExxonMobil’s annual profits, which are the highest ever reported for a U.S. company at $39.5 billion. Rep. Markey fought for full collection of royalties from oil and gas companies and those provisions contained in H.R. 6 recently passed the House as part of the 100 Hours agenda set forth by Speaker Pelosi. Oil and gas companies opposed those provisions that would force them to pay taxpayers for leases they’ve held to drill on federal lands, royalty-free. Markey provisions rolled back various royalty relief measures in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and designated all those new funds into a new Renewable Energy Trust fund.
Markey said, “ExxonMobil’s outlandish profits are the direct result of a Bush energy policy that for seven years has used every lever of the American government to tilt the scales towards satisfying the special interest demands of a single industry at the expense of the public interest. The Bush Administration and the GOP Congress stuffed energy bills full of goodies and looked the other way when the Interior Department didn’t collect royalties owed by these companies to the taxpayers. The hypocrisy of the oil and gas lobbyists is so high that even as these record profits gush from their company balance sheets, they try to block all attempts to recover the royalties they owe the American taxpayer.”
During that debate on H.R. 6, oil and gas companies said through their lobbyists at the American Petroleum Institute, “HR 6 would be a step backward for U.S. energy security. Imposing taxes on the U.S. oil and natural gas industry is contrary to the goal of providing stable and cost-effective supplies of energy for American consumers and discourages the tremendous capital investments needed to meet the nation’s growing energy needs."
http://www.api.org/Newsroom/hr-6-step-backward.cfm
Markey concluded, “Today’s profits announcement by ExxonMobil is another reminder of how far we still must go to encourage alternative sources of energy and wean our nation off foreign oil. It is time to end big oil’s free ride and Democrats in Congress are going to put helping American consumers ahead of further lining big oil’s pockets.”
The Select Committee was active during the 110th and 111th Congresses. This is an archived version of the website, to ensure that the public has ongoing access to the Select Committee record. This website, including external links, will not be updated after Jan. 3rd, 2010.
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