You need deprogramming LOL...
The billions you refer to are liability [potential] as in maybe... vapor cash... The liability is of our own choosing... We or better yet in extreme cases the enviro whackos have decided that we find value is enviromental causes and as such must add this cost into our products e.g oil...
Simply put -what you advocate here is but a mini self imposed Kyoto protocol -think about it [now tell me you are for Kyoto? LOL] -we are killing our refineries and losing US jobs so that we can safe the environment while decimating our energy infrastructure and losing US jobs... The Republicans simply were seeking a compromise position to "share" the potential risk/cost of this anti-competetive 'value added' expense... It is simple economics -more risk = more expense that share holders [people like you & I] consider when deciding yea or nay as to who gets capital...
Dude, a water company is suing an oil company, and you want the federal government to step in and give one side a few billions dollars of someone else's money. That's a fact. Deal with it. You're a socialist.
This is hilarious. A so-called conservative advocating the use of billions of dollars in taxes to reduce a business risk to a particular industry, and all the while calling the taxpayers "shareholders." Remind me, what sort of dividend do the oil companies pay out to me, the taxpayer? You are so far gone in the kool aid you don't even know which way is up.