(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are the biggest winners now that a huge piece of Democrats’ economic agenda is hurtling toward enactment.
The tax and energy bill passed Sunday after a year and half of rocky negotiations that divided the party. It gives Democrats tangible progress on key issues to show voters in the midterm elections this November.
While oil companies could benefit from the bill, which could mandate more federal oil and gas lease sales and boosts an existing tax credit for carbon capture, American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Mike Sommers said the package falls short in addressing America’s energy needs.
“While we’re encouraged that the bill will likely open the door to more federal onshore and offshore lease sales and will expand and extend tax credits for carbon capture, we remain opposed to policies that raise taxes and discourage investment in U.S. oil and natural gas,” Sommers said.
“Glaringly absent in the bill is permitting reform, which is required for America’s infrastructure needs and to bolster critical oil, natural gas and renewable supplies to meet our current and future energy demand. We urge Congress to take up and pass permitting reform without delay.”
Biden’s popularity nose-dived a year ago in the wake of the haphazard Afghanistan pullout and rising inflation — and a year of infighting among Democrats over the domestic agenda. That squabbling is in the past and Biden can say a cornerstone of his agenda will become law.
Schumer was slammed last year for failing to unite his caucus behind Biden’s Build Back Better plan. He managed to revive a slimmed version of the deal, navigate last-minute holdups and blindside Republicans hours after they gave up leverage by allowing a bipartisan semiconductor bill to pass.
Source: Worldoil.com
