Cheney task force set the stage for Great Gulf Oil Spill of 2010

(Photo of Dick Cheney from Flickr and talkradionews.)


How did we get to this point, where Big Oil pretty much calls its own shots, ignoring the environmental and economic consequences of what it does?

You can blame Dick Cheney. And George Bush. And Dick Armey (then majority leader of the House, now head of the Tea Party) and Tom DeLay and a bunch of other powerful pols with oil funding and oil ties.

Former VP Cheney’s National Energy Policy Tax Force and the subsequent Energy Policy Act of 2005 set the stage for the extreme pro-oil policies and self-regulation that has now led to BP’s Great Gulf Oil Spill of 2010.

Cheney always rejected efforts to reveal the machinations of the energy task force, but the subsequent legislation closely followed many of the points in the task force’s National Energy Policy Report.

Among those points:

• New authority to the Dept. of Interior to permit new drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf without adequate oversight.
• $2 billion in subsidies to encourage drilling in “ultra deepwater.”
• Tens of billions in subsidies for oil and other forms of dirty energy.
• Weakening of states’ say over drilling off their shores.
• Expansion of circumstances to waive environmental reviews.

Two excellent posts, by Climate Progress and The Center for American Progress go into much more detail about the impact of having two oil men in the White House and Texas oil-linked leadership in the House between 2001-2005. They’re definitely worth reading.

Gas tax holiday? It’s politics versus curbing global warming and guess who will win?

(Gas pump photo from Flickr and photographer Frank Shapiro)

Washington Report 1: High gasoline prices are good for the environment, right? People drive less and buy more fuel-efficient cars. Hybrid purchases were up 38% last year while overall new auto sales slumped 3%. So high gas prices do have some impact on curbing carbon omissions. Then why are so many of those who champion cutting greenhouse gases favoring a price cut, not a tax hike, on gasoline? Ask John McCain, GOP presumptive nominee for president, who has offered a bill creating a gas-tax holiday – removal of the 18.4% federal tax during the summer. And who’s co-sponsoring his idea? None other than Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who follows McCain around like a puppy, and his partner on the global warming bill in the Senate, Sen. John Warner (R-Va.). This is a case where short-term political gain clearly outweighs long-term planetary goals. Some of the key environment-championing Dems are getting in on the act too – like Senate Environment Chair Barbara Boxer (Caif.) and Rep. Ed Markey (Mass.), who also want to bring down gas prices. The Dem proposals are different, though. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would like to resurrect legislation passed by the House but not the Senate, to penalize gasoline price-gouging and repeal oil subsidies. Some other Dem ideas floating around are temporarily stopping oil transfers to the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (Boxer and Markey), and blocking arms sales to OPEC countries until they increase the oil supply. These measures aim to calm the speculation frenzy in the oil market and thus reduce prices. Different approaches but with the same goal: to cut prices so Americans can be free to use more gas. When will we learn? (Source: E&E News PM)