Issue Position: Energy Independence

Issue Position

Americans are hurting because of decades of bad Energy Policy. Congress has failed to act despite numerous warnings of an impending energy crisis.

Congressman Burton works every day for a bipartisan energy solution for Hoosiers and America. Relief from high gas prices will come from leadership, not finger-pointing, and Congressman Burton continues to stress this to his colleagues in Congress.

The time to act is now. Dan Burton's Energy Plan will make a big difference.

Dan Burton's Plan

Refining Capacity:

* Increases refining capacity by allowing the president to designate old, unused military bases for refining production.

* Encourage new refinery construction by requiring IRS to take action to allow tax exempt bonds to be used for construction of certain refineries, and make federal lands available for refinery construction.

Drilling:

* Lift the Congressional Moratoria on drilling in along the Outer Continental Shelf potentially providing 17 billion barrels of oil.

* Open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to responsible drilling, potentially producing nearly a million barrels per day for several decades.

Oil Shale:

* Provide an incentive for the extraction and processing of oil shale- It has been estimated that oil shale deposits in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming hold the equivalent of as little as 1.8 trillion barrels of oil and potentially as much as 8 trillion barrels of oil.

Tax Provisions:

* Provide an energy efficient tax credit for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles and an additional $1,000 tax credit if the car was purchased from an American company.

* Extend the current clean energy production incentives for solar, fuel cell, renewable, residential, bonds and wind energy credits.

* Extend current tax incentives to improve energy efficiency for new and existing homes, commercial buildings and appliances.

* Provide a tax deduction on individual and business Federal income tax for 2008 for commuting families and truckers.

Coal-to-Liquid:

* Provide a credit for investment in a coal-to-liquid fuel program whereby we could convert some of our 267 billion tons of American coal into fuel. You can get about 1.333 barrels of oil per metric ton of coal.

Wind:

* Boost alternative energy development by extending the Wind Production Tax Credit for 10 years.

Nuclear Energy:

* Encourage investment in a much-needed industrial base for building new nuclear power plants by reducing the tax burden on that industry

Emissions Reduction:

* Reduce green house emissions by offering a tax credit for CO2 captured for use in marginal oil wells.

Biofuels:

* Direct the Bureau of Land Management to make available more land for biofuel crops so as to relieve the current rise in food prices.

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