Repealing tax credits for fossil fuel producers and strengthening the Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas program are the among the energy proposals in President Obama’s 2015 budget.
As he has in previous budgets, President Obama suggestseliminating a number of tax credits for the oil, gas and coal industries. That would generate close to $50 billion in additional revenue over the next ten years, but previous attempts to enact similar legislation have gone nowhere, because of industry and lawmaker opposition. Experts say that the current proposal is likely to hit similar speed bumps.
At the same time, Obama suggests increasing discretionary funding for the Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas program by 18 percent to speed up permit requests while strengthening oversight and enforcement of industry operations. The increase would be paid for in part by charging industry more for inspections.
The President’s budget also recommends close to half a billion dollars for continuing research into carbon capture and sequestration technology, in order to help power plants comply with greenhouse gas emissions regulations due out this year.
Congress is responsible for actually crafting the budget bill for the fiscal year starting in October.