Green Campaign Watch: Big Oil Tax vs Gas Tax Holiday

Now that the presidential election has been narrowed down to two contenders who will essentially determine the fate of how the United States deals with global warming, we decided to start a new feature here on Earth2Tech: Green Campaign Watch. Because one of these two will be deciding the fate of key climate change weapons like carbon regulation and federal support of renewable energy — all those good things that the cleantech industry is betting on — we’re going to be following them closely. What happened this week?

  • Obama said this week that his tax on oil company windfalls would be used to help families pay their energy bills. Obama also lay into McCain’s proposed policies and said McCain’s plan would give billions to corporations in tax breaks, including “$1.2 billion for Exxon alone.”
  • At a fund-raiser in Virginia McCain promoted his gas tax holiday, but admitted he doesn’t “pretend that it’s an answer to our energy problems;” McCains says he thinks it will help those who “deserve a break.” But among the much-sought-after Independents, a gas tax holiday was a turn-off, by 18 percentage points, according to a May Quinnipiac poll.
  • In response to Obama’s accusation that McCain represents a third term for Bush’s policies, McCain fired back on CNBC last night, likening Obama’s energy policies to the the widely unpopular policies of cardigan-wearing President Carter during the 1979 energy crisis. Does this make McCain a Reagan when it comes to energy? Reagan not only squashed Carter’s solar initiative but also ripped the solar water heater off of the White House roof and allowed the tax credits for residential solar to lapse.
loading

Comments have been disabled for this post