DAVIS VOTES TO REPEAL BIG OIL SUBSIDIES, INVEST IN RENEWABLE ENERGY January 18, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis today voted to curb subsidies worth billions to oil and gas companies and to invest those funds into home grown renewable energy. The legislation would also correct bungled leases issued between 1998 and 1999 by the Interior Department, which, if left unchanged, could cost the Treasury an estimated $60 billion over the next 25 years. The measure passed the House by a vote of 264 to 123.

"Up to this point our energy policy has been to throw billions of dollars at large oil companies with the hope that the market will work itself out," Davis said. "The question is: do we want to continue paying billions in subsidies to oil companies in foreign lands or invest in homegrown energy that will put Americans to work while charting a path towards energy independence," Davis said.

The Creating Long-term Energy Alternatives for the Nation (CLEAN) Act includes two components that will roll back unnecessary tax benefits and costly federal oil and gas leasing provisions. In 2006, when the big five oil companies made record profits totaling $97 billion while consumers were paying $3 per gallon at the pump, with over $800 million a day going to the middle east, American farms were abound with crops that could be used for fuel.

In 1998 and 1999 the Interior Department issued oil and gas leases for drilling offshore in the Gulf of Mexico to entice more domestic production. However, they failed to include price thresholds, which trigger a requirement for companies to pay royalties when the price of oil and gas exceeds a certain level. A main component of the CLEAN Act will correct the error by imposing a fee on the holders of those royalty-free leases unless they renegotiate them to include royalties.

Lastly, the CLEAN Act would create a Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve to invest in clean, renewable energy resources and alternative fuels, promote new energy technologies, develop greater efficiency and improve energy conservation.