Washington, DC - Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri, called the just-passed Energy bill, “A toxic mixture of empty energy policy, consumer exploitation and the destruction of a pristine Arctic wilderness.” The GOP energy package, which Mr. Clay voted against this afternoon, opens the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas production, enriches big oil companies and does nothing to stop the skyrocketing cost of gasoline.

“While American families are pinching pennies to pay for a tank of gas, the Republican leadership decided to reward big oil and big gas with $8.1 billion dollars in new tax breaks,” Clay said. “I can see why Vice President Cheney fought so hard to keep his Energy Task Force secret. He allowed big oil and big gas to write a bill that gives them a license to abuse a precious national resource, while the U.S. taxpayer subsidizes their profits.”

The Republican energy package does virtually nothing to support conservation or the development of new energy sources. An incredible 93% of the tax incentives in the bill will subsidize the profits of major oil and gas companies, instead of promoting renewable energy resources and promising new technologies that could reduce US dependence on foreign oil.

The Congressman commented, “The President and the Republican leadership missed a golden opportunity to reach a bipartisan solution that could have led us towards energy independence. Instead, they decided to subsidize the destruction of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and ignore the skyrocketing gas prices that are punishing American families.”