Giffords Calls to Eliminate Oil Company Tax Breaks and Invest in Renewable Energy Technology to Lower Oil Prices and Create Jobs
Strategy Focuses on Energy Efficiency, Solar Power, Alternative Fuels, and Decreased Greenhouse Gas Emissions
TUCSON - Following Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s statement last week that one of the most significant threats to our economy is high gas prices, Gabrielle Giffords today announced her energy plan that starts with Congress repealing last year’s multi-billion dollar tax breaks for oil companies, and investing in technologies that create jobs and break our nation’s addiction to foreign oil.
“Last week the Federal Reserve Chairman himself testified that rising oil prices pose one of the greatest economic threats €“ and yet Washington isn’t responding to the urgency of this crisis. Washington is sitting back, doing nothing to find a real solution,” Giffords said. “Instead of encouraging innovation in renewable energy, they’re putting their heads in the sand. Encouraging innovation in renewable energy will create good-paying jobs and help make us energy independent.”
Today, Exxon Mobil announced that its profit for the past three months amounted to more than $10 billion. This is the second largest quarterly profit in American history. Giffords’ energy plan calls for repealing the $5.4 billion in oil company tax giveaways and using the proceeds to:
1. Increase and extend federal tax credits for homeowners and business owners who purchase and install solar panels on their homes and businesses, in order to aggressively encourage Americans to invest in renewable energy and become more efficient. “Here in Southern Arizona, our 350 days of sunshine a year can provide a permanent, non-polluting energy source for our families,” Giffords said.
2. Enact new tax credits to induce car manufacturers to install flexible fuel tanks in the cars they produce (at an additional cost of only $100 per vehicle). Flexible fuel tanks can use a blend of ethanol and gasoline known as E85 (consisting of 85% ethanol and 15% petroleum), a fuel that dramatically reduces global warming pollution. Flexible tanks can also use conventional gasoline.
3. Invest in research and development for new technologies to enable the United States to break away from its dependence on foreign oil. This investment in the future will lead to additional alternative fuels, more efficient appliances, new lightweight and efficient materials for cars, an increase in the number of alternative fuel stations, enhanced vehicle mileage, and decreased greenhouse gas emissions.
Gabrielle Giffords has made renewable energy a centerpiece of her campaign for a new direction in Washington. In April, she called on Congress to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards on vehicles, encouraging automakers to use proven technologies to increase gas mileage and build more hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles.
“Arizona families need action now,” said Giffords. “We can’t wait any longer to break our dependence on foreign oil. It’s a national security risk that ties our nation to dangerous and repressive regimes worldwide. We can’t wait any longer to decrease our global warming pollution. I am committed to achieving 25% renewable energy consumption by 2025, because change can’t wait.”
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