Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have introduced bipartisan energy tax legislation that seeks to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and create energy jobs. Baucus said, “This bill has the right tax policy to create thousands of jobs, jumpstart alternative-energy solutions and finally move America away from our dependence on foreign oil.” Key provisions of the bill include:
The Senate is expected to consider this legislation yet this month.
-- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C. correspondent, from BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly
The House of Representatives passed comprehensive energy legislation that allows for expanded oil and gas development in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The bill allows leasing for oil and gas between 50 and 100 miles in federal waters offshore if states “opt-in” to allow leasing off their coastlines. It also maintains the current prohibition against oil and gas leasing in an area of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico until 2022. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the legislation, “will honor our responsibility to make America energy independent, to free us from our dependence on foreign oil, a strong national security issue; to protect consumers, to lower prices and to protect the taxpayer, and third, to invest in renewable energy resources which will take us into the future. Fourth part of that: it will create good paying jobs here in America.” However, the Republicans said the legislation needs to allow for a more expansive drilling program and more funding for nuclear power. The White House said it would veto the bill. The Senate is expected to consider its energy legislation next week. -- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C. correspondent, from BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly