Bad Deeds for 3-17-2011

 

U.S Giving As Much As $62 Billion in Subsidies Each Year to Fossil Fuel Companies While We Complain About the Deficit – Estimates of the value of US federal subsidies to the domestic oil and gas industry alone (not coal) range from “only” $4 billion a year, to an amazing $52 billion annually. Coal subsidies are roughly another 10 billion annually. A recent comprehensive study of US energy subsidies (see graph below) identified $72.5 billion in federal subsidies for fossil fuels between 2002-2008, or just over $10 billion annually. It is ludicrous that any of our tax dollars would support such an established industry.

Globally, subsidies are also difficult to estimate but they are likely more than $600 billion annually. Many of these subsidies are intended to keep the price of gas affordable in developing countries. A recent technical overview of global fossil fuel subsidies can be found here.

The Obama Administration has proposed with the G20 nations that they all eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. Although this process has generated some new studies and data, so far zero subsidies have actually been eliminated as a result.

To take action and learn more about why subsidies are so difficult to eliminate, please visit Dirty Energy Money.

 

Koch Industries – Born in the Soviet Union; Now Destroying Democracy Here – Koch Industries, the international conglomerate owned by Charles and David Koch, is not only the second largest private company in America, it is the most politically active. As ThinkProgress has carefully documented over the last three years, Koch groups have spent tens of millions to influence government policy — from financing the Tea Parties, to funding junk academic studies, to undisclosed attack ads against Democrats, to groups promoting climate change denial, to a large network of state-based and national think tanks.

The dirty secret of Koch Industries is its birth under the centrally planned Soviet Union. Fred Koch, the founder of the company and father of David and Charles, helped construct fifteen oil refineries for Joseph Stalin before expanding the business in the United States.

Koch funds both socially conservative groups and socially liberal groups. However, Koch’s financing of front groups and political organizations all have one thing in common: every single Koch group attacks workers’ rights, promotes deregulation, and argues for radical supply side economics. Not only do the Kochs’ front groups pad Koch Industries’ bottom line, they supply the Koch brother’s talking points. In fact, for his opinion piece, Charles heavily relied on front groups he finances for statistics. The “freedom index” cited by Charles is a creation of the Koch-funded Heritage Foundation, and the erroneous “unfunded liabilities” claim was supplied by the Koch-funded National Center for Policy Analysis.

 

U.S. Giving Billions to Mining Corporations Under a 19th Century Mining Law – Mining for hardrock minerals — like uranium and gold– on public land is governed by a 19th century mining law. So, 21st century mining companies still get public minerals for free, and they don’t have to comply with environmental rules that even coal miners must. The legacy: polluted water, compromised public health, and hundreds of billions in corporate giveaways.

But finally, President Obama — in his 2012 budget — has proposed real reforms. Land managers would be able to decide when and where mining takes place on public land, and miners would have to pay a fair return to taxpayers for mining public minerals. The funds generated would pay for cleanup of the mining messes of the past at some of the 500,000 abandoned hardrock mines, including uranium mines.

It’s time to stop the corporate giveaways to hardrock mining companies and make Obama’s reforms a reality.

 

Philips Global Took $7 Million of Taxpayer Money to Keep Jobs in U.S., But is Now Closing U.S. Plant – America’s taxpayers gave Philips Global $7 million, in stimulus funds to continue investing in U.S. manufacturing jobs. But Philips would rather take the money and run. Philips is about to close one of its most profitable lighting plants, leaving 275 workers in Sparta, Tennessee, jobless and an entire community devastated. Where are those jobs going? Mexico.

The union workers who make Philips lighting fixtures in Sparta have been doing things right for 40 years. They’re committed, hardworking, and excellent at their jobs. In fact, their plant was named one of North America’s 10 best in 2009 by Industry Week Magazine and even won Philips’ own “lean” manufacturing award last fall.

And it’s not as though Philips is a sinking ship. The company is a giant in the electronics industry, and profits in its lighting division are skyrocketing. There’s no plausible argument for destroying these jobs.

That’s why Scott Vincent, a 33-year veteran of the Philips plant, was so blindsided by the company’s move. “I think Philips feels that we are just a number and that they can take what they’ve got here and plug it in anywhere, but they can’t. We’re a group of people with the experience and know-how to make this place run.” Scott and his coworkers, along with community and small business leaders, elected officials, and workers’ rights activists, are working together to convince Philips that outsourcing these jobs is just plain wrong.

Send your letter to Philips CEO Gerard Kleisterlee and tell him if he wants to keep our tax dollars, he’d better keep these jobs in America.

 

Iowa Republicans Introduce “Give A Gun To A Schizophrenic” Bill – Republicans in Iowa revived a bill that would allow Iowans to carry weapons in public without permission from a sheriff, without any form of background checks and without any training requirements. The bill is modeled after similar legislation already in place in Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming.

 

Iowa’s Agriculture Industry Trying to protect Those That are Cruel to Farm Animals – Iowa’s agriculture industry is pushing legislation that would make it illegal for animal rights activists to produce and distribute such images.

Agriculture committees in the Iowa House and Senate have approved a bill that would prohibit such recordings and punish people who take agriculture jobs only to gain access to animals to record their treatment. Proposed penalties include fines of up to $7,500 and up to five years in prison. Votes by the full House and Senate have not yet been set.

Doug Farquhar, program director for environmental health at the National Conference of State Legislatures, said Iowa would be the first state to approve such restrictions but Florida is considering similar legislation. The Iowa measure was introduced after a number of groups released videos showing cows being shocked, pigs beaten and chicks ground up alive. A video at a hatchery in Spencer showed male chicks being tossed into grinders.

“It’s very transparent what agribusiness is attempting to do here,” said Bradley Miller, national director of the Humane Farming Assn., a California-based group dedicated to protecting farm animals from abuse. “They’re trying to intimidate whistleblowers and put a chill on legitimate anti-cruelty investigations. Clearly the industry feels that it has something to hide or it wouldn’t be going to these extreme and absurd lengths.”

Regards,

Jim