Steve Pearce: “The Democrats say that they are reducing America's dependence on oil by investing in clean, renewable, and alternative…”

“The Democrats say that they are reducing America's dependence on oil by investing in clean, renewable, and alternative resources. Both goals, I agree, are admirable. In the process, they are trying to unravel a very thorny problem of contracts that were badly negotiated by the Clinton administration, contracts that the Clinton administration made no attempt to remedy. But let's look at what is actually occurring. In title I, we are penalizing American oil and gas companies and rewarding foreign companies by taxing them differently. That is, we are going to favor foreign jobs and foreign oil over domestic jobs and domestic oil. The second thing we are doing is charging a conservation fee on U.S.-produced oil while protecting foreign oil from this tax. Now, again, this is $9. If I could get the House to focus on the percentages for just a moment. If $9 is added on top of the $70 charged to a production company that is making $70 a barrel, that is about 12.8 percent. But already the price of oil has fallen to about $52. And if $9 is assessed into a $50-a-barrel revenue stream, then it is 18 percent. But what happens if the price of oil falls to $30? I would remind my constituents that as little as 3 rac{1}{2} years ago the price of oil was actually at $20. And there, you now have a fee on top of the taxes that is 45 percent.”