Grand Oil Party
by David Atkins
I should be shocked. But I'm not.
As Congress continues to hunt for ever-elusive money to rebuild roads, bridges and transit systems, House Republicans are likely once again to turn to black gold.
In the tax-averse and conservative-heavy conference, transportation interest groups’ ideas about raising the gasoline tax or looking at distance-based fees are a tough sell. But expanding oil and gas drilling and using those revenues for infrastructure improvements represent what Speaker John Boehner has called a “natural link.”
Sure, why not? Make crucial infrastructure improvements financially dependent on climate-killing, polluting industries. That should keep the big oil subsidies going for decades. Maybe even long enough to finally watch Manhattan drown under rising sea levels.
But hey, at least we'll have the revenue for underwater skyscraper repair without asking John Galt for a single extra dime.
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