Posted on 01/27/2009 1:29:58 PM PST by Troll_House_Cookies
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 26 -- US Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced bills on Jan. 21 to repeal Section 526 of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), and to accelerate the domestic manufacturing tax deduction's phase-in and allow oil and gas companies to take advantage of it.
Inhofe, who is ranking minority member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said EISA Section 526 prevents the US Department of Defense from buying fuel produced from Canadian tar sands. It also prevents the US Air Force from using coal-to-liquid or natural gas-to-liquid fuels, he indicated, adding that Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma has a pilot program to fuel B-52 tankers with GTL fuels. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is cosponsoring this bill, Inhofe said.
He said the second bill would accelerate the phase-in of the federal tax code's Section 199 deduction for domestic production to the current year and repeal Section 401 of Public Law 110-343, which prevented US oil and gas firms from using the Section 199 tax benefit.
"Greater energy independence does not come from unreasonably penalizing those firms that produce our domestic energy, and this bill would correct the wrongheaded provision by allowing our nation's oil and gas companies to take advantage of the Section 199 deduction just as every other business in the nation can," he said.
Inhofe and Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) also reintroduced their bill aimed at protecting marginal US oil wells. "This legislation will reduce our dependence on foreign oil by streamlining and clarifying government regulations, prolonging economic feasibility and enhancing production from wells which produce 15 bbl or less daily. In addition to reducing our dependence on foreign oil, a producing well provides both state and federal taxes, pays royalties to land and mineral owners, and keeps jobs on American soil and in American pockets. A plugged well provides none of this," Inhofe said.
"Even though energy prices have fallen recently, we cannot let that deter us from enacting sound energy policy that increases our domestic energy supply and helps reduce our dependence on foreign energy. Congress must ensure that we are taking full advantage of every option available to us. This bill achieves these goals by prolonging and enhancing production from marginal wells," Boren said.
BTTT
Yee-HAW!
Stroke of a pen, and Obama can kill this using the EPA. Sad but true.
If passed, and if wide adoption of coal to liquids technolgy is in place, I believe it will have two PROFOUND market shifts.
1) It will provide enough supply to the market place to create an upward cap on the price of oil. I speculate between $45 and $50 per barrel
2) It COULD enable the US to become an oil EXPORTING nation and thereby create a far greater stimulas to not only the US economy, but the world economy as well. If the windfall is not spent by the libs and RINOs, it could put the US back on more solid financial footing.
Do these bills have resolution numbers that we can refer to when contacting Congress?
The watermelon man will take care of this with a stroke of the pen.
I LOVE that man.
Congress Watch Ping!!
Woohoo. What a great guy Inhofe is!
And to think I got snarked for the suggestion.
Not allowing the military to use coal or Canadian tar sands is absurd. With access to those sources, especially coal to oil, the military, at least, is not dependent on enemy sources for fueling the tanks and ships and airplanes.
The slavering greed of the finance men and the capitalists in going for the tax-derived Bailouts and Stimuli and the dragooning of the capitalists who said they would rather not is eerily close to the world of Ayn Rand's visions.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.