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Americans for Tax Reform strongly urges Senators to support the following amendments:

1.    Vitter amendment #1535 (domestic energy development): Spurring economic activity, creating thousands of jobs, and increasing domestic energy production, Sen. Vitter’s amendment would restore the Department of Interior’s 2010-2015 lease plan. In 2008, a bipartisan agreement was reached to lift the decades-long congressional ban on new offshore drilling and open new reserves off the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coasts. It is important to note Congressional democrats were in control of both houses when legislation was passed lifting the moratorium in nearly all our offshore resources.  

2.    Hoeven amendment #1537 (Keystone Pipeline XL):  Given the Obama Administration’s repeated attempts to block construction of the pipeline—and the thousands of jobs, increased energy security, and economic activity tethered to the project—Congress must approve the Keystone Pipeline. Studied and reviewed for nearly three years, the Keystone Pipeline has been thoroughly vetted by numerous federal agencies and successfully made its way through the federal rigmarole.

3.    DeMint amendment #1589 (creates a fair energy market through tax reform): Modeled after Reagan’s 1986 tax reform, the DeMint amendment repeals energy tax credits and reduces the corporate tax rate by an equivalent amount. Burdened with political considerations, the federal government is ill-equipped to determine what source of energy Americans should use—the DeMint amendment ensure that the most efficient, reliable, and cleanest form of energy is produced.

4.    Collins amendment #1660 (Boiler MACT):  The Collins amendment would require the Senate to rewrite the onerous, job killing Boiler MACT rule.  

Americans for Tax Reform strongly urges Senators to oppose the following amendments:

1.    Menendez/Burr amendment #1782 (NAT GAS Act): Congress and regulatory agencies have piled on rules and regulations in an attempt to nudge, or force, Americans to use lawmakers’ preferred energy sources. Conservatives should begin peeling away the government’s consumption mandates and tax policies, not piling on more rules. Unfortunately, the NAT GAS Act takes the opposite approach—skewing the market, inflating natural gas consumption, and potentially driving up the cost of natural gas.  

2.    Stabenow amendment #1812 (wind tax credits): The Production Tax Credit was originally introduced to facilitate a fledgling industry. Since then, the wind industry has sufficiently matured and its power generation is even mandated in numerous states. Congress should not be in the business of propping up or aiding one source of energy over another. Given wind energy’s cost and inability to consistently generate power, it is unsurprising that this energy source supplies only 3 percent of America’s electricity needs.

Posted by Chris Prandoni on Thursday, March 8, 2012 12:00 PM EST

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