Food and Fuel America.com: Big Giveaways to Big Oil Exposed

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Big Giveaways to Big Oil Exposed

Friends of the Earth reported this week that American taxpayers will hand out $33 billion in giveaways to oil companies over the next five years.

The new report (pdf) reveals that oil companies are given “at least $23.2 billion from tax loopholes, $3.8 billion in royalty rollbacks, $1.6 billion in direct subsidies for research and development, and $4.3 billion through accounting gimmicks.”

According to the report, the Big Oil giveaways have increased dramatically since the 2005 energy bill. The figure could also increase over the next 25 years if current tax breaks are extended and if oil companies win a lawsuit seeking to avoid paying up to $53 billion in royalty revenue for offshore drilling.

FOE’s Erich Pica, who authored the report, says these giveaways aren't needed:

“This is a tremendous sum for taxpayers to be doling out to the oil and gas industry. The corporate fat cats at these big oil companies are already earning record profits—they don’t need our tax dollars too. There are far smarter places to use this money, including bringing down energy costs by investing in the clean power sources of the future, such as wind and solar.”

Something to think about the next time you're at the gas pump watching your dollars fly out of your wallet.

Source: Friends of the Earth

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