In article <bmaekm$1cee$1@pencil.math.missouri.edu>, map@economicdemocracy.org
says...

Bush wants to force taxpayers to pay how much?
$18 BILLION FOR POLLUTERS (TomPaine.com)

Most of us work hard, pay taxes and teach our kids to believe in
America. Deep down, we hope our government will invest our dollars to
serve the common good.

The massive energy bill that's before Congress betrays that hope.

Conceived in secret three years ago by Vice President Cheney and his
industry friends, the $65 billion legislation is being finalized
behind closed doors by Louisiana Representative Billy Tauzin and
Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico. This monument to greed includes
more than $18 billion in new taxpayer giveaways for the oil, gas, coal
and nuclear industries, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research
Group. http://www.uspirg.org/

If the bill passes, drilling operations of companies like Exxon and
ChevronTexaco will become exempt from provisions of the Clean Water
Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Plus, local taxpayers--not
polluters like Shell Oil--will have to shoulder as much as $29 billion
to clean up groundwater contaminated by the gasoline additive MTBE.

While renewable energy requirements have been lowered, taxpayer
support for oil extraction has been raised, including on public lands.
There is even a provision to ease the rules for exporting bomb-grade
uranium, thanks to Missouri Senator Kit Bond and Representative
Richard Burr of North Carolina.

America needs energy legislation that limits pollution, rebuilds our
electricity grid and encourages a long-term shift away from foreign
oil. This bill fails on all three counts.

Two years ago, a similar energy bill never saw the light of day,
thanks to intense media scrutiny and public outcry. This year, as we
face an enormous budget deficit and mounting bills for Iraq, history
should repeat itself.

For more on the energy bill, visit TomPaine.com. Other good resources
include
U.S. PIRG, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Wilderness Society:

http://www.uspirg.org/

http://www.taxpayer.net

http://www.wildernesssociety.org/

SOURCE: $18 billion for polluters,

http://www.tompaine.com/op_ads/opad2.cfm/ID/9078

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