Menendez Launches Big Oil Subsidy Tracker

The tracker as it appeared at 10:50 a.m. Eastern on May 25.

As we head into the Memorial Day holiday, and move from one congressional recess to another [PDF], Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has given us something to do with our extra free time: Watch taxpayer subsidies to big oil climb higher and higher.

The clock, dubbed a STOP watch (for “Stop Taxpayer Oil Payouts”), tracks the amount of money that has flowed through a tax loophole for oil companies since the spring of 2010, when the Senate failed to close it even as the Deepwater Horizon wreck spewed crude into the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the senator’s website, “The Big 5 oil companies are raking in more than $76.00 a second” thanks to the tax loophole. That means that over $24 million will have been added to the tally after the long weekend.

You can read Menendez’s press release here.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Billionaire Oil Driller Serving as Romney Energy Advisor

By Angie Schmitt |
When it comes to transportation and energy policy, it’s tough to tell exactly where Mitt Romney stands, but there’s a lot to be learned by watching whom he’s keeping close. Yesterday we covered how his VP choice, Paul Ryan, looks to be a policy disaster for sustainable transportation. Ryan indicated in his attention-grabbing but largely […]

Big Oil Lobbies to Keep Its Tax Breaks Off the Table in Debt Talks

By Deron Lovaas |
Deron Lovaas is the federal transportation policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. This story is cross-posted on his blog. As debt negotiations continue in Congress, President Obama appears to be sticking to his guns on repealing the enormous tax breaks enjoyed by the oil and gas industry. The industry takes advantage of tax […]

So Many Subsidies for Big Oil, So Little Political Will to End Them

By Tanya Snyder |
Lisa Margonelli, director of the New America Foundation’s Energy Productivity Initiative, hit the nail on the head on the problem with Congressional action on oil subsidies. Yesterday, she wrote in Politico that ending Exxon’s unjustifiable tax breaks would be nice, but there are far more egregious examples of U.S. government handouts to big oil: Really, […]

Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton: Where Is the Leadership?

By Brad Aaron |
Joining Hillary Clinton in the push to reduce the federal gas tax is fellow New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who has railed about gas prices at least since they "soared" to $1.59 per gallon. As Politico reports, rather than talking about climate change and auto dependence, Schumer is pushing a Democratic plan to go after […]