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Oceana Urges Congressional “Supercommittee” to Close Oil Industry Tax Loopholes


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This morning, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, often called “the Supercommittee,” convened for the first time to identify up to $1.5 trillion in potential cuts in federal spending before Thanksgiving. Vital programs are at stake, such as Medicare, Social Security and Defense, all of which could be cut to reduce the federal deficit.

“If the ‘Supercommittee’ is serious about eliminating wasteful spending, closing loopholes that give huge tax breaks to all oil and gas companies is a no-brainer,” said Oceana senior campaign director Jacqueline Savitz.

“Congress is considering cutting hard-earned benefits for America’s seniors and military personnel, while continuing unnecessary tax breaks for those who need them least. Our elected representatives should be ashamed of themselves for robbing the poor and vulnerable, while giving more and more to rich multinational corporations. By ending oil industry tax cuts, the Supercommittee can end this injustice and return tens of billions of dollars to the U.S. treasury,” added Savitz.

The federal government continues to offer tax breaks for the world’s most profitable corporations, such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell, some of which posted record profits last quarter.

The Obama Administration has proposed cutting harmful oil and gas subsidies by $4 billion per year. But Congress has voted down similar proposals on several occasions. That $4 billion represents only a fraction of oil and gas subsidies, as it does not include billions of dollars the U.S. Treasury is giving fossil fuel companies by allowing them to keep royalty money that should be going into our nation’s treasury.

Oceana is the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans. Oceana wins policy victories for the oceans using science-based campaigns. Since 2001, we have protected over 1.2 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea turtles, sharks, dolphins and other sea creatures. More than 500,000 supporters have already joined Oceana. Global in scope, Oceana has offices in North, South and Central America and Europe. To learn more, please visit www.oceana.org.



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