Democrats eye oil money for conservation

[cal04]

House Democrats in the first weeks of the new Congress plan to establish a dedicated fund to promote renewable energy and conservation, using money from oil companies.

That's only one legislative hit the oil industry is expected to take next year as a Congress run by Democrats is likely to show little sympathy to the cash-rich, high-profile business.

Whether the issue is rolling back tax breaks — some approved by Congress only 18 months ago — pushing for more use of ethanol and other biofuels instead of gasoline, or investigations into shortfalls in royalty payments to the government, oil industry lobbyists will spend most of their time playing defense.

Details of a renewable fuels fund have yet to be worked out. Nonetheless, it's one of the initiatives the House will take up during its first 100 hours in session in January, according to aides to Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi. At least some of the money — revenue gained by rolling back some tax breaks — will go to a program to support research into making ethanol from sources other than corn.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061226/ap_on_go_co/congress_oil_2

[truthisfreedom]

1. bush doesn't care what he vetoes at this point. his numbers are so low that nothing he does will

make any difference to his popularity. You KNOW he's just going to shoot everything down.

[buddysmellgood]

2. And we will hand that around every repuklican head in '08. They're either for him, or

against him and they'd better stand up and be loud about it if they are against him.

[Barrett808]

5. "You're either for Bush or you're for America"

Would that slogan work?

[buddysmellgood]

7. I like it.

[sarcasmo]

3. Kick, it should have been done years ago.

[badgerpup]

4. K & R...

I posted a few months back about biodiesol...
a renewable biofuel made from soybeans.

I don't remember the numbers, but unlike corn, it doesn't take more energy to make than it releases, and it doesn't take anywhere NEAR the irrigation that corn needs.

Also...aren't soybeans are one of the 'renewing' crops that help fix nitrogen back into depleted soil?





:kick:

[lindisfarne]

6. It's about time ... finally following up on Jimmy Carter's suggestion (30 years ago!) that we better

fund renewable energy!!

[babylonsister]

8. Pelosi: Democrats Will Target 'Big Oil'

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/12/26/152636.shtml?s=po

Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006 3:23 p.m. EST

Pelosi: Democrats Will Target 'Big Oil'


House Democrats in the first weeks of the new Congress plan to establish a dedicated fund to promote renewable energy and conservation, using money from oil companies. That's only one legislative hit the oil industry is expected to take next year as a Congress run by Democrats is likely to show little sympathy to the cash-rich, high-profile business.

Whether the issue is rolling tax breaks - some approved by Congress only 18 months ago - pushing for more use of ethanol and other biofuels instead of gasoline, or investigations into shortfalls in royalty payments to the government, oil industry lobbyists will spend most of their time playing defense.

Details of a renewable fuels fund have yet to be worked out. Nonetheless, it's one of the initiatives the House will take up during its first 100 hours in session in January, according to aides to Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi. At least some of the money - revenue gained by rolling back some tax breaks - will go to a program to support research into making ethanol from sources other than corn.

"What we'll do is roll back the subsidies to Big Oil and use the resources to invest in a reserve for research in alternative energy," Pelosi, a California Democrat, recently told reporters.

But the oil issue likely to be first out of the legislative block in January concerns the ability of the federal government to recover royalties many lawmakers believe have been unfairly avoided by oil and gas companies drilling in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

more...

[BayCityProgressive]

9. GOOD

[Greeby]

10. Methinks key corporate "Democrats" are going to undermine that pledge

The new Majority Leader springs to mind :eyes:

[angry_chuck]

12. birds of a feather

you are right (sigh)

[DaveinMD]

13. nope

Steny Hoyer is a tough Democrat who has done a great job building the party in Maryland. He'll surely take on big oil as they aim to destroy Democrats everywhere.

[angry_chuck]

11. maybe

if we spent more $ on science and less on guns we wouldn't be getting our asses kicked by Germany and Japan in economic growth and manufacturing.

Research shows that happy people are more creative and productive, so pay them more and don't be so cut-throat business-wise and maybe we can come up with some environmentally friendly new fuels and power generation methods not reliant on coal and oil.

[muntrv]

14. Fire at will, Nancy.

[SKKY]

15. Here's a question I keep asking myself...

...if Brazil can become 100% energy independent, whay can't we???

[Earth_First]

16. Perhaps now we'll get some windfall tax momentum going...

We grant these corporations millions of dollars in windfall grants annually. It's about time that these windfall profits are taxed and used accordingly in conservation efforts.

[Javaman]

17. Perhaps someone read my journal on here...

(read the 7th paragraph down)

Peek Oil Denial?
Posted by Javaman in General Discussion
Thu Apr 27th 2006, 04:00 PM
Various people have posted on DU, complaining about the rising cost of gas at the pump. And they call for all sorts of protests, threats, etc., that we should launch to lower the prices.

And yet at the same time, we scream and yell that peek oil is here, saying, "boy, America is going to have one heck of a wake up call". Well, guess what, we are that same America and that wake up call is now.

Is it me or is there a colossal disconnect?

Yes, I agree that the bastard oil companies are gouging us, but on the other hand, supplies are growing short and it's no mystery that the Saudi's are at their pumping limits to cover the rising demand.

China and India are demanding more and more oil. China in particular. They are making major trading deals with the countries in the middle east. They see how morons* war hasn't solved a thing and has indeed made things far worse for us. Our lack of diplomacy is literally killing us.

The reality is now folks, high gas prices are here to stay. Ranting, raving and stamping our feet isn't going to do a thing anymore. Accept the concept that cheap gas is a thing of the past.

Moron* pays us nothing but lip service. Not one of his* recent proclamations regarding our "addiction" to oil is backed up by money, action, laws or conservation. Cutting shipments to the strategic oil reserves is a temporary fix at best and the cuts to the environmental requirements on gas production to "help" the oil companies refine more fuel, won't make a difference either and cause more pollution, he* said it himself that it's still going to be a long hard summer at the pump and probably won't make much of a difference. So why the cuts? Obvious. To fill his oil buddies pockets some more.

If we really want to make a difference, write to congress and tell those do nothing fools to pass a bill on conservation and to tax the profits of the oil giants. And with those taxes, lay out a real energy policy and plan that would remove our dependency on oil and promote alternative energy. That's a movement/protest I could get behind.

Until congress gets a spine or moron* gets his walking papers, we will and are suffering from a death by a thousand cuts.

We have made our future. We are the ones that buy huge houses, drive huge cars, demand millions of plastic made items. It's us, we the people fed by a never ending stream of oil that we gladly gobble down that have caused this. We can bitch and complain about moron* from now until forever, but we knew this was coming years ago and at the end of the day, does the majority of this nation, walk, ride a bike, or take mass transportation home from work? I think we know the answer to that one.

Jimmy Carter warned us and we laughed. Reagen took the solar panels off of the White House and nothing was said in protest. As much as we have the military industrial complex, we as a nation have been playing host to the other 2 ton elephant in the room. The industrial corporate oil giant.

As long as we got our cheap gas we played the game and went right along with the "American Dream". But folks, there never was an American dream. That was bullshit fed to us by gov't sponsored ad agencies to prop up a society based on a finite resource. This is/was a truly vicious cycle of stupidity based upon immediate gratification after years of depression and war. We did without then and didn't want to go back to those days, ever again.

As a result, this societal illusion based on cheap energy was furthered by a never ending supply of cheap goods and a concept of living the way we should because "we are Americans" and by a gov't that made sure, that no matter what happened, we out did the Soviets. This fed into and promoted a mentality of wanting more and more and giving back less and less. Rampant consumerism.

Ever really think about that term "consumer"?

And here we are, our consumer demands can't meet supply and we get pissed???

Life, society and the world in general is changing and until we as Americans wake up from our oil drunken stupor to that fact, nothing, not a thing will change and we will be regulated to the trash bin of history as a country that got greedy on something that would never last. Truly a fools Paradise.

Face it, the American Century was based on oil. Removed oil from the equation and honestly, would we as a nation be where we are today? Would any nation? No.

Oil has provided the means for the world to expand beyond it's limits. Like a sun going red giant, it expands beyond it's nearest planets, until it exhausts it's last remaining fuel, only then to collapse upon itself. A shell of what it once was. Is that our destiny? Or do we as a nation wake up, demand from our leaders a real path out of this cycle into a world that will be different. I consider the American Dream as: a world, a society, that gives back more than we take away.

Now is that time, that is my dream