You know what, it gets to me that we bear the burden of external costs regarding the dirty fossil fuels that companies like Exxon-Mobile profit from so gratuitously. It's not a small amount of profit and it's at the cost of not just tax payer subsidies, but at the cost of our health and the environment.
Today The House Committee on Natural Resources released something quite brilliant to prove the point that many of us here are painfully aware of, the middle class is bearing the brunt of the tax burden and the costs are not just in dollars, but with our very health and welfare.
Big Oil releases 1040BP form on tax day
Washington (April 18, 2011) – Today is tax day. American individuals and businesses have counted up their credits and deductions and sent in their 1040 forms in the hope of getting a refund from Uncle Sam. Many will need every last dollar of those refunds to help repair their household budgets that are eroding thanks to gasoline prices that are pushing $4 per gallon around the country.
It gets better...
Meanwhile, the most profitable companies in the world may or may not pay a single dime in federal income taxes this year. As ExxonMobil demonstrated in 2009, it is possible for a company to earn $19 billion in profits in a single year and not pay a dime in U.S. income taxes.
While American consumers struggle to stay afloat, Big Oil is set to enjoy another decade of huge taxpayer subsidies and world record profits. Thanks to a Republican party dedicated to protecting the oil and gas industry, companies are set to enjoy more than $96 billion in taxpayer subsidies and royalty-free drilling over the next 15 years. This support helps put the Big 5 oil companies on track to net $2.7 trillion in profit over the next 15 years. And this only assumes 10 percent profit growth going forward, a very modest goal if world oil prices continue to race upward.
A full copy of the Big Oil 1040BP form can be found HERE.
Big Oil sympathizers claim they don’t like high oil prices any more than consumers. As the former president of Shell Oil John Hofmeister said recently, “Nobody is getting rich other than the foreign oil producers.” This is the same logic applied by Republicans in crafting their 2012 budget scheme. While claiming to end “welfare for energy companies”, Republicans actually maintain $96 billion in tax subsidies and royalty-free drilling for the oil and gas industry. At the same time, they dismantle nearly all policy support for clean energy alternatives to oil.
Imagine the impact on our debt if we were to end those subsidies and actually put that money towards creating JOBS and building greener alternatives, from solar on our homes, to more cars that rely less on gas and more on electricity (Yes, you could actually plug those cars into your home and power them up with those solar panels made in the US).
Sure, I know, it would take time, but we are at a time when we need to stop subsidizing a dead industry, a killing industry and industry that has repeatedly done harm to our environment from BP to the continued harm it does to our air and water and do something ELSE.
Haven't you had enough?