Renewable Energy Vote Sails Through House

The House of Representatives did something good today, moving on another key part of their agenda from the 2006 elections. Don't let the headline "House OKs New Taxes on Big Oil Companies" fool you - they eliminated subsidies for the oil industry and put the money into encouraging renewable and sustainable energy technologies. This is clearly the right thing to do. Oil companies, which collectively made $123 billion dollars in revenue last year, don't really need additional subsidies and tax breaks for taking our natural resources out of the ground. The Republican spin is astounding; they say that the bill "unfairly targets companies that already pay more taxes than U.S. manufacturers." Yeah, that because it makes about 10 times the money as most US manufacturers. You can see the roll call on this bill here. This should be a roll call vote that Democratic challengers go back to again and again in the fall. In California, practically every House Republican, including Brian Bilbray, David Dreier, Mary Bono Mack, Jerry Lewis, Ken Calvert, and Gary Miller, voted "No," while Dan Lungren wisely didn't vote. When gas hits $4 a gallon in the spring, this vote will have even more resonance. The Senate came 1 vote short, actually Mary Landrieu's vote, of passing this last year. They need to make sure that Landrieu understands that her vote is the price for supporting her in a tough re-election battle.

And don't weep for the oil companies; they're about to sweep into Basra, where they'll work side by side with militia members who enjoy shooting at American troops. True patriots, they are.