No Subsidy For Oil Refiners

House Republicans have pushed through a deceptive energy bill misnamed the Gasoline for America’s Security Act of 2005.

Using the destruction caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita as a rationale, the bill seeks to spur refinery construction by providing generous subsidies to a highly profitable industry and by gutting important clean air protections.
The supposed plight of oil refiners has been exaggerated. It’s true that no new refineries have been built in three decades. But refiners have met the growing demand by expanding existing facilities, thereby adding 1.4 million barrels a day of crude processing capacity, which is the equivalent of 12 new refineries. Moreover, profits are soaring.

Yet the latest energy bill – coming just months after Congress passed another major energy overhaul – would give oil companies an open-ended federal subsidy if lawsuits delayed refinery construction or expansion. Taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize profitable oil behemoths.

Hartford Courant