Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Invest in a Clean Energy Future by Ending Fossil Fuels Subsidies

Earlier this month, President Obama called on Congress to repeal the $4 billion annual subsidies we give to oil companies, and they are scheduled to vote on doing so today.

Congress "can either stand up for oil companies, or they can stand up for the American people," the President said in a recent Weekly Address. "They can either place their bets on a fossil fuel from the last century, or they can place their bets on America’s future."

Investing in an all-of-the-above energy strategy—one that relies on domestically produced oil and gas, clean renewable resources like wind and solar power, and new technologies that help us use less energy altogether—requires the putting the right incentives in place.

Instead of subsidizing the fossil fuels of the last century by giving away $4 billion of taxpayer money each year to oil companies that are more profitable than ever, we should be investing in a clean energy future—especially when gas prices are high and drivers, whose budgets are already stretched thin, are feeling the pain at the pump.

President Obama explained earlier this month in New Hampshire:

“We want to have successful oil companies that are able to get the oil that we have in our country, but we also understand that our future requires us to make investments in clean, renewable energies.  And that has to start now.  We can’t wait.  We can’t wait until gas has skyrocketed more and people are desperate.  We need to start making those investments now.”