In this video, Rep. Connolly discusses his proposed amendment to H.R. 1230 – a reckless bill sponsored by Doc Hastings (R-WA) entitled, “Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act.” The bill is slated for House floor action on Thursday.
Rep. Connolly’s amendment would strike the language in Hastings’ bill that short-circuits safety rules for offshore oil exploration, and replace it with language that would eliminate $37 billion in tax loopholes for Big Oil and divide that sum equally among licensed drivers in the U.S. It’s estimated that each driver would get approximately $185, for an effective reduction on gas prices for individuals of approximately 27 cents per gallon.
Almost certainly, Republicans – completely in the pocket of Big Oil as they are – will reject this amendment. In doing so, they will simply highlight the fact that they are doing absolutely nothing to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, nothing to break our “oil addiction,” and nothing to transition America to clean and economically prosperous energy economy. Instead, Republicans are playing politics with gasoline prices, not to mention ensuring the billions of dollars a year in oil money keeps flowing to Middle Eastern dictatorships and even to terrorist groups like Al Qaeda (ironic that they’re doing this a couple days after we killed bin Laden, isn’t it?). They are not serious.
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