Ed Markey: “this bill today is a historic bill. What it is going to do is to reclaim billions of dollars, the GAO says upwards of…”

“this bill today is a historic bill. What it is going to do is to reclaim billions of dollars, the GAO says upwards of $10 billion, which will then be moved over from unnecessary tax breaks and royalty relief for oil and gas companies, and moved over to a Strategic Renewable and Energy Efficiency Reserve so that we can change the direction of energy in our country by just taking back that which is undeserved in tax breaks and royalty relief. So, what's the issue? Well, the issue is that back in 1998 and 1999 the oil industry received royalty breaks that didn't require them to pay any royalties back to the American people, the American taxpayer, as they drilled on the public lands of our country. What this bill does is it gives a choice to the oil and gas industry: either renegotiate those leases or pay a fee going forward for the drilling on those lands. And that money will then go into a trust fund for renewables, for energy conservation, for ethanol, so that we can move in a new energy direction for the 21st century.”