\nSpringsteen<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Springsteen’s <\/p>\n Meanwhile, <\/p>\n Enough is <\/p>\n Mo’ <\/p>\n U.S. crude <\/p>\n While higher <\/p>\n Big Five: <\/p>\n Much of the <\/p>\n Big five <\/p>\n <\/a>bp’s quarter report<\/p>\n <\/p>\n BP’s <\/p>\n Iran: <\/p>\n Higher oil <\/p>\n Conversely, <\/p>\n Sea of <\/p>\n Oil companies <\/p>\n BP owns the <\/p>\n The Exxon Louisiana is BP should be <\/p>\n Oil tax <\/p>\n Despite high <\/p>\n I will tell <\/p>\n Yet even with <\/p>\n With America <\/p>\n Contrary to <\/p>\n These <\/p>\n Big Oil <\/p>\n Given the <\/p>\n Congress <\/p>\n In short, Big <\/p>\n Sens. John <\/p>\n Additionally, <\/p>\n Methodology<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We used the <\/p>\n <\/p>\n See Big Oil Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Wake up, Obama. The Gulf spill is our big chance<\/a><\/p>\n Oil rig disaster could soon be worse than Exxon Valdez<\/a><\/p>\n Obama puts offshore drilling on hold as Gulf of Mexico oil slick reaches U.S. coast<\/a><\/p>\n
\nsong could not be more true today. Big Oil is once again riding high oil prices
\nto large profits (see below) while American consumers get stuck with a $2.7
\nbillion gasoline bill<\/a> in the first quarter of 2010 due to higher oil prices.
\nBut the problems with oil go beyond these companies’ profits. Rising oil prices
\nalso add more filthy lucre to the coffers of
\nhostile regimes, including Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nthe Gulf of Mexico is suffering a huge oil
\nspill<\/a> while taxpayers spend billions of dollars paying for tax
\nloopholes for Big Oil<\/a>. And Big Oil spends record
\namounts<\/a> of money to pressure Congress to cement these loopholes in place and
\ndefeat clean energy legislation. Adding injury to insult, big oil opposes energy
\nand global warming legislation that would reduce our reliance on
\noil.<\/p>\n
\nenough. We need Congress to stand up to Big Oil and pass legislation that
\naddresses the problems with oil profits and oil use. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.),
\nLindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) are working on legislation that
\nwould reduce oil dependence and put a declining limit and rising price
\non carbon<\/a>. These measures would reduce our dependence on oil, increase
\nnational security, create jobs, and cut pollution.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nprices, mo’ problems<\/strong><\/p>\n
\noil prices rose from $31.76 per
\nbarrel in January 2009 to $85.17 by April 29, 2010<\/a> after a price slump at
\nthe end of 2008. This is an increase of nearly 160 percent over a 15-month
\nperiod. The Energy Information
\nAdministration<\/a> recently predicted that oil prices will rise to above an
\naverage of $81 per barrel by this summer while average gasoline prices will
\nlikely exceed $3.00 per gallon this spring. Drivers will pay 17 percent more for
\ngas compared
\nto summer 2009<\/a>—$174 million per day, or an average of $602 per household
\nannually. Energy price volatility like this hurts
\nconsumer and business investments<\/a>, causing families to delay buying a car
\nand spend less on buying or upgrading their homes. Businesses also cut
\ninvestments, while profits surge in the oil and gas
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
\nprices brought higher profits to Big Oil, they also brought higher gasoline
\nprices that cost American consumers millions during the first quarter. A CAP
\nanalysis determined that higher oil and gasoline prices forced Americans to
\nspend $2.7
\nbillion more<\/a> on gasoline during the first quarter compared to what they
\nwould have spent had prices remained steady after the first
\nweek.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWe’re in the money<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\nU.S. economy is slowly recovering from a deep recession, but oil companies
\ncontinue to prosper. The big five oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips,
\nExxonMobil, and Shell—announced huge first quarter profits—four of the five
\ncompanies announced profits larger than analysts predicted<\/a>.
\nAs the chart below shows, big oil saw profits in the first quarter of 2010 that
\nfar eclipse analysts’ projections and are significantly higher than 2009 profits
\nas well.<\/p>\n
\noil company profits for the first quarter of 2010 vs. first quarter
\n2009<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n2010 first quarter profits were $5.6 billion, a 135 percent increase<\/a> over
\nthe first quarter of 2009. This profit was 50 percent higher than predicted by
\nThe Financial Times. Shell<\/a> announced that its profits had risen by 49 percent since the first quarter of
\n2009. Chevron’s profit was $4.6 billion, a 156 percent increase, while
\nConocoPhillips had $2.1 billion in profits. The world’s largest private oil
\ncompany, ExxonMobil, had a first quarter profit of $6.8 billion, which was 38
\npercent more than 2009.<\/p>\n
\nThanks for high oil prices<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nprices also benefit nations that are hostile to U.S. interests—even if we don’t
\npurchase any oil from them—such as Iran. Every $1 increase in the price of oil
\nprovides an additional $1.5 billion to Iran<\/a> annually.<\/p>\n
\nadoption of a shrinking limit on carbon pollution that reduces it by 80 percent
\nby 2050 would reduce the use of oil and lower its price, costing
\nIran approximately $1.8 trillion in lost oil revenues<\/a> over the next 40
\nyears—over $100
\nmillion a day<\/a>. These petrodollars fund and prop up unfriendly
\nregimes<\/a>, enabling them to support
\nterrorists<\/a> in other nations.<\/p>\n
\nfire<\/strong><\/p>\n
\ndeserve to earn a profit since oil exploration and development can be
\nfinancially and technically risky business. At the same time, though, they must
\nproduce this oil in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner. Yet despite
\nrhetoric
\nto the contrary<\/a> about advances in environmental safeguards, the spill off
\nthe Louisiana coast shows that offshore oil development still poses a threat to
\nits workers and risk to the ocean and coastal
\nenvironment.<\/p>\n
\noil rig that exploded and sunk in the Gulf of Mexico last week, causing what CNN<\/a> reports officials say “could become one of worst spills in U.S. history.”
\nTragically, there are 11 missing rig employees who are presumed dead. The well<\/a> continues to
\nleak 210,000 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico—five times the original
\nestimate<\/a>. This growing oil slick already covers an area
\nlarger than West Virginia<\/a> and oozed
\nonto the Louisiana shore early this morning<\/a>. A major portion of the oil
\nslick looms only five miles offshore. This major oil spill could be the worst
\nenvironmental disaster since the Exxon Valdez
\nspill in 1989<\/a>, and it is a tragic reminder that we must dramatically reduce
\nour oil use.<\/p>\n
\nValdez spill cost Alaska’s fishermen an estimated $800 million<\/a> in damages to
\ntheir livelihood. This oil spill could bring an economic Armageddon to the gulf
\ncoast seafood industry. Bloomberg
\nreports<\/a>:<\/p>\n
\nthe largest seafood producer in the lower 48 states, with annual retail sales of
\nabout $1.8 billion, according to state data. Recreational fishing generates
\nabout $1 billion in retail sales a year, according to the
\nstate.<\/p>\n
\nrequired to place its first quarter profit of $5.6 billion in an escrow account
\nto provide compensation to the fishermen whose livelihoods are threatened. These
\nfunds should also be used for cleaning up the soon to be blighted
\nshores.<\/p>\n
\nloopholes: More money for the misbegotten<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nprices and profits, big oil companies still want taxpayer-funded loopholes even
\nthough some conservative oil men believe they are unnecessary. In 2005, former oil man
\nand President George W. Bush<\/a> noted that with higher oil prices big oil does
\nnot need tax breaks to explore and develop oil
\nfields.<\/p>\n
\nyou with $55 oil we don’t need incentives to the oil and gas companies to
\nexplore. There are plenty of incentives. What we need is to put a strategy in
\nplace that will help this country over time become less
\ndependent.<\/p>\n
\ntoday’s prices more than 50 percent higher than $55 per barrel, Big Oil
\ncompanies want
\nto maintain tax loopholes<\/a> that siphon additional billions of dollars from
\nU.S. taxpayers. Taxpayer money pays for the tax breaks claimed by Big Oil, but
\nthe industry claims that closing these loopholes is really a new energy tax on
\nthem. American Petroleum Institute President Jack
\nGerard<\/a> stated:<\/p>\n
\nstill recovering from recession and one in ten Americans out of work, now is not
\nthe time to impose new taxes on the nation’s oil and natural gas industry. New
\ntaxes would mean fewer American jobs and less revenue at a time when we
\ndesperately need both. A robust U.S. oil and gas industry is essential to the
\nrecovery of the nation’s economy.<\/p>\n
\nthis assertion, cutting the subsidies to Big Oil would help our economy while
\nshrinking the federal budget deficit. In fact, a state-by-state
\nanalysis<\/a> indicates that taxpayers would actually save money if the
\nsubsidies and tax breaks were lifted. A recent CAP analysis found that the effective
\nfederal income tax rate<\/a> in the United States for major oil companies is
\nlower than the effective tax rates they face abroad—sometimes close to 50
\npercent lower. The report also determined that subsidies to the oil industry
\nwill cost the U.S. government about $3 billion in lost revenues next year and
\nnearly $20 billion over the next five years.<\/p>\n
\nestimates are only the initial assessment—they still vastly underestimate the
\nhelp that the oil industry receives from the government via extensive hidden tax
\ncode benefits<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n
\nsqueezes the Capitol<\/strong><\/p>\n
\ngenerous subsidies Big Oil receives, it should come as no surprise that this
\nindustry is fighting hard to keep their loopholes and block reform. There was record
\noil and gas industry lobbying<\/a> in 2009. These companies spent at least $154
\nmillion on squeezing Congress that year-more than 16 percent higher than 2008.
\nBig Oil’s lobbying and political arm—the American Petroleum Institute—alone
\nspent at least $7.3
\nmillion on lobbying <\/a>in 2009 and another $1.3 million more in 2010 to kill
\nlegislation. API has also spent millions of dollars running expensive print, TV, and radio ads <\/a>to do the
\nsame. The American Petroleum Institute alone<\/a> “doled out $75.2 million for public relations and advertising” in
\n2008.<\/p>\n
\nmust act<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nOil’s profits climb higher and higher as American consumers feel more and more
\npain at
\nthe pump<\/a>. This needs to stop.<\/p>\n
\nKerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) are developing
\nbipartisan comprehensive energy legislation that would reduce oil dependence and
\nput a declining limit and rising price
\non carbon<\/a>. These provisions would increase American energy independence (and
\nour national
\nsecurity<\/a>), create jobs, produce “Made in the USA” clean energy technologies,
\nand cut pollution. The bill should also establish much stricter safeguards for
\nexisting offshore oil production.<\/p>\n
\nCongress should cut subsidies
\nto big oil<\/a> and level the playing field for safe, clean energy sources.
\nFurther, we need to curb the economic, social, and environmental damage that our
\nconsumption of dirty fuel causes. To achieve these many goals, Congress must act
\nswiftly to pass bipartisan comprehensive energy and climate
\nreform.<\/p>\n
\nweekly price and quantity data supplied by the EIA’s U.S. prices and consumption
\ndatabase<\/a> to calculate how much more Americans spent on gas in the first quarter of 2010
\nrelative to what they would have spent had prices remained steady after the
\nfirst week of January 2010. Using their data from the “Finished Motor gasoline
\nproduct supplied” and “Conventional retail gas prices” sections, we multiplied
\nthe average weekly product supplied value times that week’s recorded price,
\ndoing this separately for each week of the first quarter. From here, the initial
\nweek’s value was subtracted from each other weeks to obtain how much more was
\nspent each week relative to the first. Aggregating this column resulted in the
\nfinal figure.<\/p>\n
\nalso:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nAwash in Profits<\/a> by Daniel J. Weiss and Susan Lyon
\n Quenching
\nOur Thirst for Oil<\/a> by Susan Lyon, Rebecca Lefton, and Daniel J.
\nWeiss<\/p>\n