Clean Energy Works Memo

Source:http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0710/Climate_groups_to_target_Big_Oil_Welfare_Tax.htmlCOMMUNICATIONS MEMORANDUMTO: CEW GroupsFR: David Di Martino, CEW CommunicationsRE: The Big Oil Welfare TaxDA: July 9, 2010The coming weeks will be very important for supporters of comprehensive cleanenergy and climate legislation. The opposition, in the form of API and BigOil lobbyists in Washington, are spending millions on smear campaigns andcalling on their cronies in the Senate to do everything they can to continue

America’s dependence on oil and prevent a new policy that moves us away from

oil and toward a clean energy economy.The other side is on message and determined to defeat a new energy policywith the tired old false attack that climate and energy legislation is a

―national energy tax.‖ What they don’t want anyone to know is that the

American people already have a national energy tax

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The Big Oil Welfare Tax- in the form of billions of dollars in subsidies to the wildly profitable

big oil companies. That’s right; American taxpayers SUBSIDIZE an industry

that earns hundreds of millions of dollars in profits each quarter, and turnsaround and charges $3, $4 even $5 for a gallon of its subsidized gasoline.CEW is planning to launch a targeted grassroots and media campaign to attackBig Oil for profiting from the Big Oil Welfare Tax and highlight theirhypocrisy for calling investments in new technology and renewable sources of

energy an ―energy tax.‖ We will target activities in the same states whereAPI’s smear campaign ads are running. We will engage real people to call for

action on clean energy and climate and to demand that API and Big Oil stop

the smear campaign and get to work on solutions for America’s energy future.

We will distribute a tactical campaign plan in the coming days but in themean time we are providing (below) message guidance on the Big Oil WelfareTax. Please use this line of attack to fend off criticisms of climate andenergy legislation as a tax and use it to put opponents of clean energy andclimate legislation on their heels

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defending taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil

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defending the Big Oil Welfare Tax.By The Numbers: The Big Oil Welfare TAXAs Big Oil and their lobbyists work overtime to prevent being held

accountable for their actions and a change in our nation’s energy policy,

polluters benefit from generous energy tax provisions that effectively raisetaxes on average Americans. These provisions subsidize the oil industry with$4 billion in tax breaks and loopholes every year.Big Oil companies make record profits each year yet still benefit from thisBig Oil Welfare Tax Breaks that costs Americans dearly in both tax revenue