White House: Oil companies don’t need 'wasteful' tax breaks

The White House officially endorsed a Democrat-backed bill to repeal billions of dollars in oil industry tax breaks Monday, arguing that major oil companies don’t need “wasteful subsidies” because they are making massive profits.

“This money can be better spent promoting domestic manufacturing, encouraging the development of clean energy technologies that will reduce our dependence on oil, and cutting the deficit,” the White House said in an official “statement of administration policy.”

The statement praised the legislation, which was sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). The bill would repeal $24 billion in tax deductions for the largest oil companies over the next decade. It would also extend a slew of key renewable energy tax credits.

Wind power still gets lower public subsidies than fossil fuel tax breaks

Public subsidies for the development of wind power in the UK are dwarfed by the tax breaks enjoyed by fossil fuels, a new Guardian analysis has revealed. Financial support for fledgling renewable energy industries has increasingly come under attack in recent months, but the new data shows that the older industries benefit to a far greater extent.

Gas, oil and coal prices were subsidised by £3.63bn in 2010, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , whereas offshore and onshore wind received £0.7bn in the year from April 2010. All renewables in the UK benefited from £1.4bn over the same period, according to data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc).