Senator Schumer Shows Oil Companies a Level Playing Field
by David Sassoon - Sep 16th, 2008
Senator Chuck Schumer recently showed oil companies what a level playing field looks like -- in Iraq. And he intends to make the Iraqi government contribute to reconstruction costs if they cut deals with oil companies outside the context of a national hydrocarbon law.
It's an instructive story as Congress gets close to a vote on offshore energy drilling. If Schumer can level the playing field in Iraq, why not here at home?
Last summer, Schumer and a group of Democratic senators appealed to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to block six no-bid contracts that Western oil companies had secured from the Iraqi government. The reason? The Senators were concerned that the contracts would undermine the efforts of Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites to come to agreement on a national oil law and a formula for sharing oil revenues.
Last week, the Iraqis canceled the no-bid contracts with Exxon, Chevron, Shell, Total, BP and other companies. Schumer said:
I'm glad the Iraqis heard our plea that to do this now would be bad for Iraq and bad for Iraqi-American relations.
Schumer said the next step is to make progress on the long-term goal of passing a national hydrocarbon law in Iraq; and to help put pressure in favor of achieving that goal, Schumer said he'd propose an amendment to the next defense appropriations bill.
The amendment would require the Iraqi government to turn over profits from contracts with oil companies to defray the cost of reconstruction, if those contracts are put in place before a national hydrocarbon law.
In other words, Schumer is not ready to let US taxpayers foot the bill for reconstruction in Iraq while oil companies walk off with lucrative government contracts, and the Iraqi government rakes in oil revenues without contributing to a comprehensive national solution.
If Schumer has his way, the oil companies and Iraqi government ministers are going to be blocked from sweetheart deals while the US military babysits at taxpayer expense.
Time to put the greater good first in Iraq. Now how about in domestic US waters?
See: Iraq Cancels Six No Bid Oil Contracts (NYT)
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Thanks for nothing!
Thanks a lot you morons. The increased amount of taxes paid TO the United States gov't FROM the U.S. oil companies due to increased revenue from these contracts would have more than paid for our presence in Iraq. If you people cannot see the snake-oil scam of "Human Induced Climate Change", then I find it hard to believe you have the mental capacity to log onto your computer! We need to stop bullshitting around with oil production moratoriums and open the spigots! We are years away from any alternative fuel source, until then, we still have to move freely about this country conducting business and delivering goods. In addition, we are not going to stop the rest of the world from evolving to our current standard of living. So why should we suffer because a handful of environmentalist zealots threaten everyone with lawsuits. Face reality.
Clinical Evidence of Delusion
I think it is widely accepted that the $1 trillion in direct costs that the US taxpayer has spent on the war in Iraq has served as an additional but hidden tax upon the price of gas at the pump. Our use of oil has many hidden costs, including environmental ones, but let's not forget the cost of the military imperative to "secure" oil supplies. It is an expensive service that oil companies get for free. To say tax revenues from oil companies can pay for the war in Iraq is clinical evidence of a delusional relationship to reality. Precisely the opposite is true.
You can pigeon-hole global warming as an environmental issue if you like, but on the flip side of the climate coin you will find energy. And there my abusive, anonymous friend, you will still have to confront the same inconvenient truths about an unsustainable way of life. It worked for a century and a half, but things change, and one mark of true intelligence is the ability to adapt. Denial, self-interest, and greed -- the moral hallmarks of people who rabidly espouse positions like yours -- are merely evidence of cruelty and ignorance -- barbarism, really.
Post new comment