Received this e-mail today from Senate candidate and climate hawk, Congressman Ed Markey (D. MA-5):
Big Oil companies like BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell make billions of dollars in profits every year.
So why are Republicans in Congress giving them a free ride?
Oil and gas companies currently hold drilling leases that allow them to produce oil and gas from our waters without paying one cent in royalties to the American people.
Oil and gas companies shouldn't get a free ride while families struggle to get by. Click here to tell Congress: No more free rides for Big Oil:
http://www.edmarkey.com/...
This isn't just about fairness. It's about what's best for our economy.
Allowing oil and gas companies to use resources that belong to the American people without paying for them has already cost taxpayers more than $11 billion in forgone revenue, and is expected to cost another $15.5 billion over the next decade.
We simply cannot afford to squander tens of billions of taxpayer dollars by continuing to allow oil and gas companies to drill for free on our public lands.
It's time for this wasteful practice to end -- and I need you standing with me. Add your voice: Tell Congress the free rides need to end right now!
http://www.edmarkey.com/...
Thank you.
Ed
Here's the petition again:
http://www.edmarkey.com/...