Lesson of the day: When free money is sloshing around, everyone wants some of it.
Big Oil Likes the Green New Scam
Oil companies try to persuade Trump and his Republican allies not to slash provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act potentially worth billions.
The Wall Street Journal reports Big Oil Urges Trump Not to Gut Biden’s Climate Law
In discussions with former President Trump’s campaign and his allies in Congress, oil giants including Exxon Mobil (XOM), Phillips 66 (PSX) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) have extolled the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act. Many in the fossil-fuel industry opposed the law when it passed in 2022 but have come to love provisions that earmark billions of dollars for low-carbon energy projects they are betting on.
At a Houston fundraiser for Trump in May, Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub took her case directly to the candidate, saying tax credits propping up the company’s huge investments in technology to collect carbon directly from the air should be preserved.
Meanwhile, company officials at Phillips 66, a $58 billion U.S. oil refiner, have told members of Congress the IRA’s tax credits are important for its business, people familiar with the matter said. Instead of crude oil, the company’s renewable fuels are made from used cooking oil, vegetable oil, fats and the like, which qualify it for large tax credits.
Green politics
Trump has called Biden’s climate efforts the “Green New Scam” and last month promised to cut unspent IRA funds. With the backing of influential conservative think tanks, Republicans in Congress have tried to repeal the law and provisions in it dozens of times and are expected to push for cuts again next year during the legislature’s budget reconciliation.
Expect Rebranding
Political strategists said Trump may try to rebrand the law, given the support for it among officials and companies in some Republican-leaning states, such as Oklahoma and South Carolina, who see it as a draw for new investments and jobs.
Yes indeed. Trump would rebrand this as his own just as he rebranded NAFTA into USMCA which he claims is the greatest trade deal in history.
Very little changed in USMCA other than to put US companies at the mercy of Mexican courts in arbitration, thereby making the agreement worse.
Meanwhile, Harris is adopting Trump proposals like no tax on tips. Both sides, led by J.D. Vance, want to increase child tax credits.
169 Republicans Vote to Expand Welfare, Bill Heads to Senate
In case you missed it. please recall 169 Republicans Vote to Expand Welfare
169 Republicans joined 188 Democrats to expand welfare. There were only 47 no votes from Republicans.
Vance now wants to expand that further. So does Harris.
USMCA Rebranding Success in Two Pictures
US Balance of Trade Select Countries Goods Only 2024 Q2
For discussion of the above charts, please see Trump Claims Tariffs Will Reduce the Trade Deficit. Let’s Fact Check.
Trump proposes 60 percent tariffs on China. Would that reduce the trade deficit? Where? How?
Expect more rebranding successes like the above, no matter who wins.
The True Costs of Net Zero Are Becoming Impossible to Hide
On February 6, I commented The True Costs of Net Zero Are Becoming Impossible to Hide
It’s increasingly difficult for Biden and the EU to hide the true costs of net zero mandates.
But hey, look on the bright side. Big oil now wants to participate. It’s sure to create jobs at a cost of $350,000 each or whatever.
On the home front, I am hoping for a subsidy to not drill for oil in my back yard on the soon to be announced “Keep Carbon in the Ground” KCIG initiative.
I also want to be paid for not growing wheat om my tennis court.