The Obama budget, released today, is firmly — and not surprisingly — on the side of cleantech, as it allocates greater funding to the Department of Energy and other key agencies and seeks to eliminate tax breaks long-enjoyed by the oil and gas industry.
These tax repeal could add up to $12.7 billion in extra revenue for the government between 2010 and 2014. In a written statement American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard warned that new taxes on his industry could mean fewer American jobs. “Now is not the time,” he urged.
The energy portion of the budget is built around a cap-and -trade program called for by Obama, and which the administration expects will produce $150 billion over 10 years starting in 2012 and which will fund clean energy projects. Another $65 billion is expected to pay for middle-class tax credits.
On top of the stimulus monies, the budget also allocates $33.9 billion to the Department of Energy for the current fiscal year, that is more than the $24.1 billion allocated last year. In 2010 the DOE budget spending drops to $26.3 billion but the stimulus provides an additional $38.7 billion over the next seven years.
The budget and the stimulus lay the groundwork for the green economy Candidate Obama vowed to implement during his campaign. It also lays the groundwork for a legislative battle between those in Congress — and they are still around — favoring continued support for producers of “core energies” – the emerging talking point to describe the oil and gas sector — and those pushing for a new energy matrix.
