Biden Includes Key Elements of Blumenauer's Polluters Pay Agenda in the American Jobs Plan

Press Release

A number of environmental legislative priorities championed by U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) were included today in President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan. The plan will create millions of good jobs and rebuild our country's infrastructure while also combatting the climate crisis.

A key section of the plan announced today by Biden includes the elimination of tax preferences for fossil fuels and the reinstatement of the Superfund Tax, so polluting industries pay for environmental clean-up. For years, Blumenauer has championed both issues in Congress with his End Oil and Gas Tax Subsidies Act and Superfund Reinvestment Act.

"President Biden agrees -- it's unconscionable that we continue to spend billions in tax subsidies to line the pockets of big oil and gas companies and incentivize the extraction of fossil fuels. Under the plan announced today, we'll instead invest in clean energy technologies and jobs that will put Americans to work and fight the climate crisis," Blumenauer said. "I'm also glad to have the administration's support in our work to ensure companies pay to clean-up their own toxic waste. It's long overdue that we shift the burden for clean-up back to polluters."

Fossil fuels represent many of the world's most profitable industries, with billions of dollars in earnings each year. Despite this success, the current tax code includes billions of dollars in subsidies, loopholes, and special foreign tax credits for the fossil fuel industry, undermining the nation's ability to invest in renewable energy sources and damaging our environment.

According to the White House, "as part of the President's commitment to put the country on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050, his tax reform proposal will eliminate all these special preferences."

Earlier this month, Blumenauer re-introduced the End Oil and Gas Tax Subsidies Act to eliminate 11 provisions in the tax code that unfairly benefit oil and gas companies. Not only would the legislation ensure the United States is no longer providing tax subsidies to oil and gas at the expense of clean energy, but it would also increase the competitiveness of the energy industry. Full text of that legislation can be found here.

The White House also announced today that "the President is proposing to restore payments from polluters into the Superfund Trust Fund so that polluting industries help fairly cover the cost of cleanups."

Blumenauer plans to reintroduce the Superfund Reinvestment Act in the coming weeks to require polluters to pay for the clean-up of toxic and hazardous waste sites throughout the United States.

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