Learn more about House Democratic bills to lower gas prices, end taxpayer dollars to Big Oil, and invest in a stronger economy.

TAXPAYER AND GAS PRICE RELIEF ACT (H.R. 1748, BISHOP)
Legislation to protect the pocketbooks of America's families by lowering the price at the pump and ending unwarranted tax breaks for Big Oil.

• Ending the Biggest Tax Breaks for the Five Largest Oil Companies - saving $31 billion over ten years
• Using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Increase the Oil Supply and Combat Price Hikes from Wall Street Speculation
• Ensuring Oil Companies Pay the Royalties they owe American taxpayers
• Holding Big Oil Accountable for Price Gouging

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INCREASING AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION NOW ACT (H.R. 1870, CONNOLLY)
Legislation to increase American energy production in a responsible and safe way.

• Setting Benchmarks to Ensure that Oil Companies Work to Diligently Develop Oil on Federal Land
• Imposing Fees on Oil Companies that Sit on Drilling Leases without Producing Energy
• Increasing Domestic Oil Production in Alaska
• Responsible & Safe Drilling - Implementing the recommendations of the BP Oil Spill Commission

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BUILDING OUR CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE NOW ACT (H.R. 1875, CICILLINE)
Legislation to end tax breaks for Big Oil, so we can continue our efforts to build a clean energy economy - which has focused on American renewable energy, like wind and solar, and electric vehicles and efficient cars -- that will reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, lower energy costs for American families and businesses for good, and create millions of jobs that can't be outsourced.

• Ending the Biggest Tax Breaks for the Five Largest Oil Companies - saving $31 billion over ten years
• Moving to Natural Gas, Hybrid and Electric Vehicles
• Building Alternative Fuel Pumps & Charging Stations for Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Electric Cars
• Building & Manufacturing Clean Efficient Cars
• Public Transit for Lower Costs

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TAXPAYER AND GAS PRICE RELIEF ACT (H.R. 1748, BISHOP)

ENDING BIGGEST TAX BREAKS FOR BIG OIL 

• Saves taxpayers $31 billion over ten years by eliminating three of the largest tax breaks for the five major oil companies -such as a giveaway in the 2004 international tax law (Section 199), accounting rules, and the immediate write-off for intangible drilling costs.

RELEASING OIL FROM THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE TO COMBAT PRICE HIKES FROM WALL STREET SPECULATION

• Expands the authority of the President to release oil from the SPR to combat market manipulation and curb speculation.
• Under the bill, the President could temporarily release up to 5 percent of the oil from the government's stockpile and replace it later with refined products like gasoline or diesel - in order to bring down prices now and update the reserves to provide for long-term security. (H.R. 1017, Markey)
• The stockpile is 100% full, and past releases have brought down gasoline prices by up to 33 percent.

ENSURING OIL COMPANIES PAY ROYALTIES THEY OWE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS 

• Saves taxpayers over $2 billion by fixing a flaw in 1998 and 1999 leases in the Gulf of Mexico that currently allows oil companies to drill without paying any royalties that could cost American taxpayers up to $53 billion over the next 25 years.  (H.R. 1352, Markey)
• Republicans rejected this proposal by a vote of 174-251 [HR 1, Vote #109, 2/18/11] despite their calls to reduce the deficit. 

HOLDING BIG OIL ACCOUNTABLE FOR PRICE GOUGING

• Makes it illegal to sell gasoline at excessive prices and helps prevents Big Oil and the industry from taking advantage of consumers and engaging in price gouging.  (H.R. 964, Bishop)

REDUCING THE DEFICIT 

• This bill would bring in at least $33 billion over ten years to responsibly reduce the deficit or spur American clean energy.

BUILDING OUR CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE NOW ACT (H.R. 1875, CICILLINE)

ENDING BIGGEST TAX BREAKS FOR BIG OIL 

• Saves taxpayers $31 billion over ten years by eliminating three of the largest tax breaks for the five major oil companies -such as a giveaway in the 2004 international tax law (Section 199), accounting rules, and the immediate write-off for intangible drilling costs.

MOVING TO AMERICAN NATURAL GAS, HYBRID AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES 

• Provides a tax credit for up to 80 percent of the incremental cost of buying a natural-gas or hybrid heavy-duty vehicle, with a maximum value of up to $64,000. (Section of New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions  Act , H.R. 1380, Larson)
• Heavy-duty vehicles, such as 18-wheelers, buses, and cement and dump trucks, account for about 25 percent of the on-road fuel consumed in America.
• Use of natural gas - which is affordable, abundant and American - and electricity in the transportation sector will reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.

BUILDING ALTERNATIVE FUEL PUMPS & CHARGING STATIONS FOR ALTERNATIVE FUEL AND ELECTRIC CARS

• Extends the 50% investment tax credit for building refueling infrastructure - like charging stations and natural gas pumps - that supports clean American alternative fuels like ethanol, hydrogen, biodiesel and natural gas through 2014.
• Lays the groundwork for the more widespread use of plug-in hybrid electric and electric vehicles by creating the electrical infrastructure needed for these cars - making electric charging stations or battery exchange locations as common as gas stations.  Currently, the lack of charging stations is a significant barrier to the widespread use of plug-in hybrid electric and electric vehicles.
  • Calls on public utility commissions to develop plans to improve the infrastructure needed for these cars.  (H.R. 1730, Vehicles for the Future Act, McNerney)
  • Encourages state and local governments to establish public-private partnerships, with car-sharing organizations, utilities, and car manufacturers, to facilitate the deployment and integration of electric cars. (H.R. 1742, Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Act, Eshoo)
• These are critical incentives for cleaner domestic fuels, just as the first widely available electric vehicles are coming off the assembly line and manufacturers are gearing up to mass produce more alternative fuel vehicles.

BUILDING AND MANUFACTURING CLEAN EFFICIENT CARS

• To help ensure the cars of the future are built here in the U.S., invests in a broad range of near-term and long-term vehicle technologies to improve fuel efficiency, support domestic research and manufacturing, and lead to greater consumer choice of vehicle technologies and fuels. (Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing Technology Act, H.R. 1367, Peters)
• America can develop the new cutting-edge, commercially viable vehicle technologies of the future by making long-term sustained investments in research and development in partnership with automobile manufacturers, engine and other vehicle component manufacturers, fuel companies, and energy suppliers and utilities. 

PUBLIC TRANSIT FOR LOWER COSTS

• To help families deal with rising gas prices, reduces transit fares for commuter rail and buses and expands service.  The average commuter can save over $10,000 a year riding public transit. 
• Promotes the use of alternative fuel in public transportation  (Gas Price Relief Through Public Transportation Act, H.R. 1975, DeFazio)

INCREASING AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION NOW ACT (H.R. 1870, CONNOLLY)

ENCOURAGE OIL COMPANIES TO DRILL ON THE 79 MILLION ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND THEY ALREADY CONTROL

• Imposes an escalating fee on the oil and gas companies who continue to hold onshore and offshore drilling leases without producing. (USE IT Act, H.R. 927, Markey)
• On shore and offshore, there are 79 million acres of public lands that are under lease for oil and gas development, but oil companies are only producing on 18.5 million acres.

DILIGENT DEVELOPMENT OF OIL ON PUBLIC LANDS

• Requires the Interior Department to set forth requirements and benchmarks for oil and gas development on federal lands and waters that ensure oil companies diligently develop leases during the primary lease term.  

INCREASE DOMESTIC OIL PRODUCTION IN ALASKA

• Mandates annual lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, which has significant deposits of oil and natural gas. 
• Also requires Administration to facilitate completion of the oil pipeline infrastructure into the Reserve and the construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline, which could create up to 100,000 jobs. (DRILL Act, H.R. 6515, 111th)

RESPONSIBLE & SAFE DRILLING

• Implements the recommendations of the BP Oil Spill Commission:
  • Requires strong new safety measures, including independent certification of critical equipment, and strong new standards for blowout preventers, well design and cementing practices.
  • Holds BP and oil industry fully responsible for cleanup costs and recovery after spills by removing the current $75 million cap on economic damages to be paid by Big Oil to families and small businesses. 
  • Strengthens oversight of oil drilling by reorganizing the Interior Department and strengthening the Department's offshore oil safety agency.
  • Restores the Gulf Coast and protects local residents by dedicating 80 percent of the fines from the oil spill.
  • Strengthens oil spill research and development, creates permanent government expertise on estimating and measuring the flow rates from deepwater spills, and increases the role of experts in the U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the decision-making process for where new oil drilling can occur.
  • Requires the Federal Government to develop realistic worst-case flow-rate models and for oil companies to use them when they create real, worst-case scenario oil spill response plans.  (Implementing the Recommendations of the BP Oil Spill Commission Act, H.R. 501, Markey)