Senator Susan Collins was joined today by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) in introducing a bipartisan amendment that will help set the U.S. on a path to energy independence and provide a more sensible energy policy. The amendment, which will be considered as part of the budget, which is under consideration by the Senate, would eliminate tax subsidies to big oil and gas companies and it would provide for a $500 tax credit, initially proposed by Senator Collins, for individuals to transition to clean burning wood stoves. The amendment also calls for a tax credit for production of cellulosic ethanol and for the purchase of plug-in hybrid electric drive vehicles.
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In a speech to the U.S. Senate, Senator Collins said, ‘This amendment will help set us on a path toward energy independence and provide a more sensible energy tax policy. As I visit communities around Maine, I hear time and time again that the high cost of energy is causing a crisis for many of our citizens. Making matters worse, this is one of the coldest and snowiest winters in recent memory.” She explained that rapidly increasing prices for home heating oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, and other products refined from oil are a huge burden for many families, truckers, and small businesses.
Senator Collins outlined the amendment’s major provisions, including a provision to eliminate tax breaks for oil and gas companies. “With net profits of a single oil company reaching almost $10 billion in a single quarter, we should not expect taxpayers struggling to pay their bills to continue to subsidize the oil and gas industry.” The amendment is similar to legislation Senator Collins introduced last year.
Senator Collins added, “We should take back these oil and gas tax subsidies, which the oil companies themselves admitted they do not need, and instead address the long-term challenge of reducing our reliance on imported oil. We need to pursue the goal of energy independence just as fervently as the nation embraces the goal in 1961 of putting a man on the moon.”
The Collins-Levin energy amendment also includes provisions from a bill that Senator Collins recently introduced to provide for a $500 tax credit for replacing old wood stoves with clean burning, more efficient stoves.
Additional provisions include tax incentives for the production of ethanol from cellulosic sources and production of biodiesel fuels. These technologies each offer tremendous potential for reductions in our gasoline consumption and in greenhouse gas emissions. It will also help move our petroleum-based economy toward a renewable, sustainable forest bio-economy.
The bill also includes tax incentives for the purchase of plug-in hybrid electric drive vehicle. The combination of advanced battery technology and advanced hybrid systems offer tremendous potential for reduction of oil consumption, but tax incentives will be necessary to offset the increased cost to consumers and to achieve widespread acceptance by consumers. It is estimated that a plug-in hybrid could get the equivalent of 100 MPG, having a large impact on reducing our use of oil.