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Oil companies should pay their fair share of taxes

March 13, 2009 Energy, Obama, Solving Global Warming, Taxes No Comments

This email showed up yesterday.
I know I have been slow with the general updates, but the news was making me a bit crazy.
On the advice of a family member I took a news sabbatical, and am now only slowing getting back to paying attention in more detail.

Ok here is newsletter:

Sign the petition
Dear MoveOn member,

Think oil companies should pay their fair share of taxes? So does
President Obama.

In his budget, the President has proposed cutting billions of dollars in
unfair subsidies and tax loopholes for oil and gas companies, to help pay
for critical priorities like clean energy and green jobs.1 After all, they
don’t exactly need the help: ExxonMobil made a record profit of $45.2
billion last year.2

But Big Oil is already fighting back. Like other corporate special
interests, they’re lobbying heavily to gut Obama’s budget. The American
Petroleum Institute has announced plans to fly top executives into
Washington to help save their tax breaks.3

And they’ve got a lot of friends on Capitol Hill, thanks to millions in
campaign contributions over the years. So we’ve got to be louder than Big
Oil, and remind our elected representatives that they work for us, not
ExxonMobil. Click here to sign our petition:

http://pol.moveon.org/stopbigoil/?id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix

The petition reads: “Congress should stop the giveaways and tax loopholes
for oil and gas companies–and invest in green jobs and clean energy
instead.”

President Obama has a bold vision for switching America to a clean-energy
economy and putting millions of people back to work in good, green jobs.

His proposed budget is full of important provisions to make it happen:
investing in wind and solar power, retrofitting buildings to make them
more energy-efficient, and helping working families cope with rising
energy costs.4

To help pay for it, oil and gas companies need to start paying their fair
share in taxes. For years, they’ve been receiving generous subsidies–and
taking advantage of loopholes that let them avoid paying royalties from
drilling on federal lands and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Unsurprisingly, the industries that make their profits from producing and
burning oil, coal, and natural gas are spending millions of dollars
working to undermine the president’s plans for a clean-energy economy.

So we’re organizing a massive grassroots campaign to get his back and take
them on. Can you help out by signing our petition? Click here:

http://pol.moveon.org/stopbigoil/?id=15729-9659800-2a_4ai

Thanks for all you do.

–Adam, Justin, Michael, Ilyse and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “Obama seeks repeal of industry tax breaks, subsidies,” Greenwire,
February 26, 2009. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51230&id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix

2. “Exxon 2008 profit: A record $45 billion,” CNNMoney.com, January 30,
2009. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51231&id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix

3. “A backlash against Obama’s budget,” BusinessWeek, March 5, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51232&id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix&t

4. “Obama budget boosts green spending,” CNNMoney.com, February 26, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51233&id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million
members–no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny
staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
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