Snake oil salesmen

Monday, April 7, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

Executives of the nation’s five biggest oil companies Tuesday tried to defend lucrative tax breaks their corporations receive in front of a skeptical congressional committee.

Members of the committee noted that gasoline prices — and oil company profits — are at an all-time high. The five companies made a combined profit of $123 billion last year.

So Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., wondered, why shouldn’t they give up tax breaks so the nation can invest more money in renewable energy sources, conservation and alternative fuels?

With straight faces, they defended the tax breaks as necessary. They have to make big profits, they said, to weather downturns in what they said is a cyclical business. Of course, they have been making that argument for years as the price of oil and their profits have continued to skyrocket.

In February the House passed a bill that would strip the companies of $1.8 billion in tax breaks a year for the next 10 years. The House bill wisely would put that money into renewable energy projects. The White House has pledged a veto if the bill gets through the Senate, threatening that consumers will face higher fuel prices if the bill passes.

That is merely fear-mongering in the name of protecting the Bush administration’s friends in the oil industry. The industry is reaping incredible profits, and paying more taxes — less than 2 percent of the industry’s profits — is hardly worth crying about.

Instead of worrying about its political supporters, the Bush administration should be thinking about the nation’s long-term energy needs.

The nation should be taking bold steps to find ways to make alternative fuel sources viable. The skyrocketing price of gas is cutting into consumers’ pockets and hurting the economy. As well, the nation’s continued reliance on oil puts added stress on the environment and contributes to global warming.

The House has rightly targeted the oil industry and its disingenuous arguments. It is time to work for the good of the nation, not the oil industry.