New energy taxes will kill jobs, increase foreign dependence

Purposefully conflating the need to ensure that companies are responsible for funding environmental clean-ups in the case of a spill — which the House of Representatives has already acted upon by increasing the taxes directed to the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund — as a reason to hike taxes on American independent producers is wholly inappropriate.

Those responsible for the tragic incident in the Gulf will be held accountable. But we cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that billions of dollars in new taxes on America’s independent producers will kill jobs at a time when they’re most needed, and compromise our long-term energy security. These misguided and potentially devastating tax hikes and moratoria will only ensure that our nation’s dependence on unstable regions of the world to fuel our economy will compound, and that the supplies of energy that the American people rely on will become far less stable.