Negotiating the Energy Bill: The Rich Keep Getting Richer; Capitol Hill Panel Denounces Growing Subsidy Bonanza for Fossil Fuel Industry

10/7/2003

From: Jonathan Pearson of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, 301-920-1644

News Advisory:

As a House-Senate Conference Committee struggles to finalize the fast-changing federal energy bill, a panel of experts representing consumer, taxpayer and environmental groups will provide an up-to-the-minute overview of the billions of dollars of ill-advised fossil fuel subsidies included in the package.

With the northeast electricity blackout driving the push for passage of a comprehensive energy package, the fossil fuel industry is seeking to cash in. Attempting to cobble together support, energy conferees are proposing deals that would add hundreds of millions of additional dollars into the coffers of some of the wealthiest corporations in the world: U.S. oil, gas, and coal companies. These proposals come on top of the tens of billions of taxpayer dollars fossil fuel industries are already slated to receive under earlier versions of the bill. Panelists will provide the latest information on these outrageous subsidies, proposed at a time of record federal budget deficits and accelerating global warming.

Where and When:

Thursday, Oct. 9, 1 -- 2:30 p.m.

Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2105

Panelists:

-- Erich Pica, Friends of the Earth, economic policy analyst

-- Aileen Roder, Taxpayers for Common Sense, program director

-- Navin Nayak, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, environmental advocate

For more information call Chesapeake Climate Action Network at 301-920-1644