Dean Heller On Tax Breaks For Oil Companies
Heller Voted To Keep Oil And Gas Subsidies While Not Voting To Renew Renewable Energy Loan Guarantee Program. Heller voted to keep billions in tax breaks for oil and gas while voting against the renewable energy loan guarantee program that funded projects such as the Crescent Dunes plant in Tonopah, NV. Ian Rogoff, the executive chairman of Heliopower, an integrated energy develop company, commented that the federal government favored oil and gas companies over renewable energy, “Oil and gas tax benefits have been renewed, which means government support for those industries has been renewed ... for the most part, these incentives [such as loan guarantees] are just in place to allow these new technologies and new industries to compete effectively, and compete against incumbents.” [Las Vegas Sun, 5/25/11; Las Vegas Review-Journal, 6/25/11, Las Vegas Sun, 5/20/11] Heller Voted to Protect Oil Company Tax Breaks Over Middle Class. In 2008, Heller voted to kill a one-year adjustment for the Alternative Minimum Tax with instructions that it be reported back promptly with language that would eliminate tax increases providing offsets in the bill, and provide that deductions in mileage rates for vehicles used for charitable purposes are treated the same as medical travel and moving rates. Democrats put revenue-raising offsets into the bill, arguing that the $62 billion in revenue that would be lost through the patch must be made up. The revenue increases targeted private-equity managers, the oil and gas industry, certain foreign-owned corporations and merchants who underreport their income. Republicans contended that offsets were unnecessary because the patch would simply maintain the tax status quo. They also said a temporary tax reprieve should not require permanent revenue increases and argued that the budget deficit should be closed by spending cuts, not revenue increases. Rep. McCrery, the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, offered the motion to recommit that would have removed the offsets and increased the tax deduction for miles driven for charitable purposes. McCrery warned about the proposal’s economic effects, saying “that change in our tax code would discourage, at the margin, that capital from coming to this country, being invested in this country and creating jobs in this country,” he said. The motion failed, 199-222. [Vote #454, 6/25/2008; CQ Today, 6/25/08]
Jon Bruning On The Environment
Bruning Filed A Lawsuit Opposing EPA Air Pollution Rule Cutting Emissions Of Acid Rain Gases. "Attorney General Jon Bruning will file a federal lawsuit challenging a new air pollution rule that could cost Nebraska utilities millions of dollars. Bruning announced Thursday that he will file a challenge of the Environmental Protection Agency's so-called Cross-State Air Pollution Rule in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, announced in July and set to go into effect Jan. 1, cuts allowable emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, the gases that cause acid rain. The EPA says the new standards will improve air quality significantly by reducing power plant emissions in 27 states." [Lincoln Journal Star, 9/22/11]
Scott Brown On The Environment
Brown Questioned Climate Change. During a discussion on WBZ Radio with Dan Rea, Coakley and Brown debated climate change. Coakley said, “Scott acts as if there is no climate change problem. If you believe there is a climate change issue, then you have to take action.” Brown responded, “I [have] said the climate is always changing. The question I have is, is it man-made, or does it just happen naturally?” [Boston Globe, 12/22/09]
Josh Mandel On The Environment
2009: Mandel Voted Against Requiring Buildings Constructed With State Money To Adhere To Energy Efficiency Standards. In 2009, Mandel voted against HB 7, “to require a building or structure constructed using state capital budget moneys to adhere to certain energy efficiency and building standards.” The bill passed 55-43. [H.B. 7, 12/16/09]