Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr., (R-Southwest Louisiana), today made the following statement regarding the CLEAR Act, which raises taxes on American produced energy and grants the federal government broad new power to slow offshore energy production.

 

"Democrats in Washington continue to propose new taxes that will squeeze family budgets even further, and this attempted energy tax is no different,” said Boustany. “We need American produced energy.  It creates good paying jobs throughout the Gulf and reduces our dependence on foreign sources of energy.  The CLEAR Act raises taxes and threatens to put many small energy companies out of work for good.”

 

An analysis by the House Natural Resource Committee Republican staff found the current version of the CLEAR Act, H.R. 3534:

Raises taxes by over $22 billion in ten years – with the taxes eventually climbing to nearly $3 billion per year.  This is a direct tax on natural gas and oil that will raise energy prices for American families and businesses, hurt domestic jobs, and increase our dependence on foreign oil.  This tax only applies to U.S. oil and gas production on federal leases – giving an advantage to foreign oil and hurting American energy jobs.

 

Requires the federal takeover of state authority to permit in state waters, which reverses sixty years of precedent.  The mismanagement, corruption and oversight failures of the federal government are being used as justification to expand federal control by seizing management from the states.  

 

Imposes job-killing changes and higher taxes for onshore natural gas and oil production.  It fundamentally changes leasing onshore by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, which affects not just leasing for natural gas and oil, but also for renewable energy including wind and solar.  Forest Service and BLM leasing are shoved into the three new agencies that are replacing the former Minerals Management Service (MMS).

 

Creates over $30 billion in new mandatory spending for two programs that have nothing to do with the oil spill (the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Historic Preservation Fund).  In the version of the bill headed to the House floor, Democrats added brand new language that expressly allows this $30 billion to be earmarked by the Appropriations Committee.

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