Bush advisers urge veto of any bill raising oil company taxes

WASHINGTON — The White House is threatening to veto any energy bill that seeks to raise taxes on oil companies.

President Bush's senior advisers will recommend he veto any energy bill that raises taxes or uses the tax code to "single out specific industries," Allan Hubbard, director of the National Economic Council, said in a letter sent late Monday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Reacting to Hubbard's letter today, House Democrats vowed not to back down, paving the way for a confrontation over energy policy this fall.

"There the Bush administration goes again — coddling Big Oil instead of developing alternative energy resources that will lower oil prices and save our planet from the worst impacts of global warming," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.

House and Senate leaders are trying to cobble together a compromise energy package from two different packages passed by the two chambers last summer. And Hubbard's letter throws down a challenge on a number of key provisions dear to Democrats.

The House package would saddle the oil companies with $16 billion in new taxes. The companies, for instance, would be excluded from a scheduled rollback in the corporate tax rate for U.S. manufacturers.

The House bill also would require that investor-owned utility companies generate at least 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.

That too is a provision that could prompt a presidential veto, Hubbard indicated.

david.ivanovich@chron.com