Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Slippery As A Foxx

Rarely does Aisling Broadcasting in Boone report on anything other than the WHAT of a particular story. Take today's story about Virginia Foxx's (R-NC) co-sponsorship of The American Energy Independence and Price Reduction Act, which would allow for oil production in Alaska.

If the reporter (s) at Aisling would have dug a little deeper, they would have also found out the following about Rep. Foxx, which kinda seems slightly relevant:

  • She has accepted $45,100 in contributions from the oil and gas industry since 2000
  • She has voted "Yea" for 91% of the bills in Congress which would most benefit the fossil fuel industry
  • She voted against the effort to repeal the massive tax subsidies being given to the fossil fuel industry
  • She voted against a bill that would promote "clean energy (requiring utilities to produce 15% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020), increases fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks to 35 mpg by 2020, other efficiency standards, tax incentives, etc."
  • She voted against an "amendment to H.R. 6 requiring Department of Transportation to raise vehicle fuel economy standards to at least 33 mpg by the model year 2015."
  • She voted against the "'Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008' Amends Internal Revenue Code to extend incentives for renewable energy sources and energy conservation."
These votes do one thing, really: prop up an industry whose time has clearly past--to the detriment of everyone.

Aisling, the question to ask in this story (in addition to where, who, when, etc.) is WHY did Foxx co-sponsor this bill? Maybe next time, eh?

Source here.

4 comments:

Yehuda Draiman said...

Editorial: Clean-energy tax incentives must be renewed
Mercury News Editorial
Article Launched: 05/27/2008 01:34:27 AM PDT


Gas is at $4 a gallon and global warming is melting the polar ice cap. The United States should be racing to create cleaner, more secure energy sources. But Congress has spent a year bickering over what should be a no-brainer: continuing tax credits for renewable energy.

The House last week passed legislation to renew incentives for producing and investing in solar, wind and other forms of clean energy. But prospects are dicey in the Senate, and the oil-centric White House already has threatened a veto.

It's time for the president and Senate Republicans to face up to energy and economic realities by agreeing to renew the credits that otherwise will expire at the end of the year. If they don't, they will squander the early progress on alternative energy inspired by the credits, and they'll blow an opportunity to do something smart to help future generations.

Solar, wind and other renewables are vital in battling climate change and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. That's important because of not only record oil prices but also national security, since the largest supplies are in volatile parts of the world.

Renewable energy also promises to boost the economy in the long term, creating clean tech jobs and stimulating an investment boom, especially in Silicon Valley. San Jose now sees clean tech and alternative energy as a major economic development strategy to build up its tax base.

But installing solar panels or


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building wind turbines requires big upfront investments and long-term planning; to be effective, incentives can't be stop and go.
The legislative limbo already is chilling progress. Installation companies such as Akeena Solar of Los Gatos and REgrid Power of Campbell already have scaled back solar projects or laid off workers because of uncertainty over the tax credits. Electric utilities and their clean energy suppliers are putting projects on hold.

Loss of the incentives would risk $19 billion in clean tech investment and 116,000 jobs nationwide, according to one industry estimate.

The nearly $20 billion in clean-energy incentives passed by the House were part of a broader $54 billion bill extending a grab bag of tax breaks and deductions. Under the clean energy provisions, the investment tax credit for solar would be extended six years, the production tax credit for wind one year, and the credit for energy from biomass, geothermal and landfill gas three years.

Several attempts in the past year to extend the credits have failed as lawmakers squabbled over how to pay for them. This time, the money would come from closing a loophole often used by hedge fund managers for deferred offshore compensation and from delaying the start of a tax break for corporations with foreign interest income.

Senate Republicans and the president may be willing to jeopardize long-term economic vitality and energy security to protect tax breaks for rich financiers and multinational corporations. But they can't claim that benefits the public.

Clean energy is fueling a new wave of innovation, investment and jobs. Washington should be seizing this chance to capitalize on one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy today.

Yehuda Draiman said...

American economy in crises - a long time coming

When a country and its society import more than they export for over a quarter of a century, it is bound to erod the economy to its primate state.

We have only ourselves to blame, what goods and products are we exporting, what goods and services are produced in the USA, the answer is very little by comparison.

In the past 50 years as our population has increased, technology advanced, we have become a nation that consumes enormous amounts of resources, we shop for competitive prices. Corporate America is constantly looking to increase the bottom line.

Most of the goods for and by Americans and its companies are produced overseas and in the past decade with the advancement of telecommunications, many of the services sector are also imported.

The increased costs of energy over the past 10 years, has affected the economy to unimaginable comprehension.

This economic activity has eroded our economy to its core. It seems that the situation is getting worse every year. American debts are increasing beyond our wildest dreams, endangering the future economic vitality of our future generation.

I hope it is not too late for our society to recognize the graveness of our economic predicament and its resolve to take appropriate action to stem the tide of our economic downturn.

Americans are a nation of great technology and knowhow. We must utilize that technology and our resources to find new means to regain our economic independence.

We must face and implement fiscal responsibility, both by the government and the population with its infrastructure of corporate America.

It is no longer an option, it is a must if we as a nation want to survive and retain our way of life and economic vitality.

Inflation, recession and financial crises are here. Let us take the bull by the horn, initiate immediate actions to minimize and hopefully reverse our economic crises.

Jay Draiman, Northridge, CA.

PS
The US economy has enormous momentum. Metaphorically speaking, if someone turned off the locomotive that drives the US economy, the economy would go on for miles before anyone would likely notice something was wrong. But something has been wrong for many years. Is there really hope for the future? Maybe. But the terrible truth is that no one really knows. But if there is hope, we're already on the wrong track. And that has to change..

Anonymous said...

No one should be surprised that Foxx's solution to the energy crisis is to drill for more oil, given her stock in Chevron and the loads of oil money she receives. Not only is such a fix fleeting, it will do irreparable damage to the ANWR. Foxx's terms in office have been marked by mistake after mistake, and this legislation is no exception. Just one more reason to vote for Roy Carter.

Anonymous said...

I'm not surprised she owns stock in Chevron! Just another reason folks should vote for Roy Carter in North Carolina's 5th District!

Roy Carter for Congress!