Friends of the Earth Blasts Senate Passage of Tax Package
For Immediate Release
December 15, 2010
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 202-222-0722, [email protected]
Ben Schreiber, 202-222-0752, [email protected]
Friends of the Earth Blasts Senate Passage of Tax Package
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Friends of the Earth’s climate and energy tax analyst, Ben Schreiber, had the following statement in response to the $860 billion tax package that passed the Senate today:
“Friends of the Earth is deeply dismayed that the Senate followed President Obama down the path of capitulation to bad economic and environmental policies.
“Extending the Bush tax giveaways for the wealthiest two percent, significantly reducing the estate tax, and extending environmentally damaging subsidies will cost our government hundreds of billions of dollars. This tax package jeopardizes our government’s ability to fund essential public programs in order to line the pockets of millionaires and boost the profit lines of some of the worst polluters.
“The Senate bill has been larded up with tax cuts to support dirty and dangerous energy sources, including petroleum, coke, natural gas and corn ethanol. The worst examples of environmentally destructive handouts are a forty-five cents per gallon tax credit to corn ethanol via the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), and a fifty cents per gallon tax credit for the production of liquid coal.
“Speaker Pelosi and members of the House must prevent unfair and irresponsible giveaways to the wealthiest Americans and corporations from moving forward. Otherwise, this Congress will leave behind a legacy of wasteful spending that could inhibit our government’s ability to function in the public interest.”
A letter from Friends of the Earth and 350.org in support of Senator Bernie Sander’s (I-Vt.) amendment to eliminate some of the harmful tax giveaways in the Senate package is available at: /sites/default/files/FOE-350-Sanders-Tax-Amendment-Letter.pdf
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Friends of the Earth and our network of grassroots groups in 76 countries fight to create a more healthy, just world. Our current campaigns focus on clean energy and solutions to climate change, keeping toxic and risky technologies out of the food we eat and products we use, and protecting marine ecosystems and the people who live and work near them.