For immediate release: January 18, 2007                                                                      Contact: Rose Garr, U.S. PIRG (202) 546-9707

Diana Dascalu, Chesapeake Climate Action Network (703) 772-2472

Congress Tops Off First 100 Hours by Passing Clean Energy Act

Virginia Representatives Break 4-7 for Legislation

Washington, DC – Today the House of Representatives voted 264-163 to pass The C.L.E.A.N. Energy Act of 2007, (H.R. 6) which would close some tax loopholes for big oil companies and recover royalties from oil and gas produced in public waters.  The bill was supported by 4 of the 11 Virginia Representatives: Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA 3), Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA 8), Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA 9) and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA 10).

H.R. 6 will shift more than $14 billion from these subsidies to investments in clean energy, such as energy efficient technologies and renewable power.  The bill was the last of the six bills brought up for consideration during the House’s first 100 legislative hours.

“Today the 110th Congress made a down payment on a new energy future,” said Rose Garr, mid-Atlantic field organizer for U.S. PIRG. “Their investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency will create jobs and save consumers money.”

“This is a step in the right direction for our region and the nation,” said Diana Dascalu, staff attorney for Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a mid-Atlantic grassroots group. “Although we’re excited to see Congress repeal hand-outs to the fossil fuel industry – the same industry causing global warming – we still have a long way to go to establish comprehensive clean energy policy and make sure we avoid the worst effects of global warming.”

H.R. 6 takes the $14 billion in recovered revenue to establish a “clean energy fund” that would create incentives for and investments in energy efficient and renewable energy technologies.  These funds could

·          spur the construction of wind and solar energy power generation facilities;

·          save consumers money on their energy bills with incentives for energy efficient   appliances, buildings, and equipment; and

·          enable more people to purchase gas-saving hybrid cars and trucks.

The resources for the clean energy fund would come from the following:

·          Incentives for oil companies to renegotiate offshore drilling leases signed in 1998 and 1999 that provided unlimited royalty relief, even when oil prices reached record levels. 

·          The repeal of several royalty relief provisions authorized in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 

·          The repeal of a tax break enacted in 2005 that allowed major oil companies to write off “geological and geophysical” expenditures.

·          The repeal of a tax benefit from 2004 that lowers the income tax rate paid by oil companies by reclassifying oil and gas production as a manufactured good.

A recent study by the U.S. Department of Interior found that royalty relief has led to “only a tiny increase in production,” (New York Times, 12/22/06) but would cost nearly $48 billion over the next 40 years.

“More than ever, America needs a new direction on energy policy. With the passage of the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007, Congress has sent a clear message that they are ready to start solving our energy problems. We applaud the Representatives Scott, Moran, Boucher and Wolf for supporting clean energy.”

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U.S. PIRG is a national non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy group with over 10,000 citizen members in Virginia. http://www.uspirg.org/