Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Ro Khanna, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Environment, released a Fact Sheet detailing reasons to repeal fossil fuel subsidies. The fossil fuel industry plays by different tax rules than the rest of American business, spends over $100 million in political contributions to preserve their preferential treatment and prevent government action to curb climate change, and receives billions of dollars in tax giveaways as a result.
The Fact Sheet was published following a hearing held by the Environment Subcommittee on Earth Day to review the impact of fossil fuel subsidies on climate action. During the hearing, witness Mr. Frank Macchiarola of the American Petroleum Institute stated that the oil and gas industry is “certainly fine being treated like every other industry." He also said, “If you want to take the entire tax code and treat the oil and gas industry as every other industry, we’re happy to do that."
The Fact Sheet outlines five priorities that Congress and the Biden Administration should enact to end fossil fuel subsidies and provide equal tax treatment for the oil and gas industry:
1. Repealing the Deduction for Intangible Drilling Costs
2. Repealing the Last-In, First-Out (LIFO) Accounting for Fossil Fuel Companies
3. Repealing the Corporate Tax Exemption for Fossil Fuel Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs)
4. Repealing the Excess of Percentage Over Cost Depletion
5. Repealing Dual Capacity Taxpayer Deduction
