The U.S. Tax Code — $4.6 Billion In U.S. Oil Company Subsidies Per Year

October 14th, 2017 by Cynthia Shahan

In a new study of 800 undeveloped U.S. oil fields, researchers found that about half of the fields will never go into production … if oil company tax breaks are taken out of the picture. In related matters, without a shadow of a doubt, renewable energy offers jobs. Renewable energy offers jobs with a future — not temporary part-time work, but jobs that are probably sustainable well on into the future.

Obama was supporting such policies — an end to oil and other fossil fuel subsidies, solar power for low- and moderate-income families that also created jobs, a program to train 25,000 veterans for new solar jobs, and much more. He was pushing for a fresher, more productive future.

What person does not want pure air to breathe, clean water to drink, a future for their children that makes them less likely to get cancer, heart problems, etc.? Yet, we still have oil subsidies — taxpayers covering oil company costs in a variety of ways.

“In a new study Monday in Nature Energy, SEI researchers looked at newly discovered U.S. oil fields that have not yet been put into production — all 800 of them,” Tim McDonnell of The Washington Post reports.

“The researchers found that about half of these undeveloped fields would never go into production, (assuming an oil price of $50 per barrel, close to where it is today) — if oil company tax breaks are taken out of the picture. The study is based on the current range of subsidies and doesn’t account for changes that could result from the new GOP plan.

“But if the range of subsidies offered today remain, those new wells could produce up to 17 billion barrels over the next few decades, SEI found, which in turn would produce around six gigatons of carbon dioxide. To meet the goal set out under the Paris climate agreement to keep warming ‘well below 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels,’ the United States can emit no more than 30 to 45 gigatons of CO2 between now and 2050.”

A society of sustainable, productive work in clean energy is inspiring. Instead, sacrificing jobs, the economy, and American health and well-being, the current White House wants to go in the wrong direction. It is something akin to the infamous delusion of a young, uneducated queen saying, “Let them eat cake.” That is what the administration sounds like too many days of the week. Fortunately, useful information continues to stream.

This is how you create jobs:

Tax reform is a vitally important issue. It can help fight climate change. McDonnell clearly points out, “Just not the kind of tax reform Trump and Republicans are proposing.”

Going on: “the oil industry is still calling it a win, citing proposals that would make it easier for oil companies to recover their investments in exploration and to shield profits earned from drilling overseas, in addition to lowering the corporate tax rate to 20 percent.”

Can someone please ask Trump on what kind of planet he sees his grandchildren and great-grandchildren living if he continues to ignore clean air initiatives?

Maybe an imploding planet is a metaphor for the president’s state of health.

“The tax blueprint also expands Trump’s reversal of Obama-era climate measures. In 2009, President Barack Obama joined other Group of 20 leaders in a pledge to phase out fossil fuel subsidies eventually. The GOP tax plan gives little indication of keeping that commitment — and that could have significant implications for U.S. oil production and the climate.”

Backwards, backwards, backwards — into a quicksand of confusion and tragedy for the well-being of the general population. This heartless tax shelter for the profiteers of future pre-existing conditions — and not a few dollars to help hungry children in schools. Ignoring solar job potential while subsidizing some of the richest companies in the world.

McDonnell continues, “Already, the U.S. oil industry benefits from a dozen specialized subsidies adding up to about $4.6 billion per year, according to a 2015 review by the Obama administration. Among other things, the subsidies reduce the costs of labor and equipment involved in drilling — and shield some of the profits earned on the oil itself. Those tax breaks and other subsidies don’t just help the industry a little bit. In many cases, they determine whether it’s even worth drilling in the first place, according to a study earlier this year from the Stockholm Environment Institute, a nonprofit research organization. Without federal and state subsidies, nearly half of U.S. oil production — about 45 percent — would be unprofitable at current prices, the researchers found. So, unless oil prices go rocketing up, reducing or eliminating those subsidies would likely lead to a significant reduction in oil production over time.”

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Air Pollution Exposure & Kidney Disease Linked By New Study

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Republican Politicians Love Oil & Coal Money, Destroy Human Health & Life

$550 Billion in Fossil Fuel Subsidies











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