Cutting Energy Efficiency Home Tax Credits Would Save $21 Billion, So Let's Add $18 Billion In New Oil & Gas Tax Breaks

[hatrack]

As the Senate works this week to pass major legislation that would slash taxes, climate programs and government spending, Republicans are poised to include billions of dollars in benefits for the oil and gas industry.

The new oil-targeted tax changes would cost the federal government about $18 billion in lost revenue over a decade, according to an analysis released Saturday by Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation. For comparison, a plan to end a tax credit for energy-efficient home improvements was projected to save about $21 billion over the same period.

Environmental groups said the proposal, included in draft language released last week by the Senate Finance Committee, subsidizes fossil fuel companies at the expense of the American people. “This is a reckless expansion of Big Oil handouts paid for with cuts to the social safety net,” said Lukas Shankar-Ross, deputy director for climate and energy justice at Friends of the Earth Action, part of a coalition of advocacy groups called United to End Polluter Handouts. “It’s pretty straightforwardly monstrous.”

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Existing law provides a tax credit of $85 per ton for companies that remove carbon dioxide from smokestacks and pump it underground for permanent storage so it won’t warm the climate. Oil companies can also use that captured carbon dioxide to squeeze more crude out of depleted oil fields, and current law provides a tax credit of up to $60 per ton of carbon dioxide for this practice. The Finance Committee’s proposal increases the value for this so-called “enhanced oil recovery” to match the higher $85 per ton figure.

Ed. - Oh boy, "carbon capture".

EDIT

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/23062025/senate-republicans-big-oil-tax-benefits/