Despite her words, Dole votes for Big Oil, Gas

Elizabeth Dole introduced a bill that would repeal the $17 billion in tax credits to Big Oil and Gas and redirect those funds into renewable energy. The problem? She’s voted numerous times, as recently as last month, against doing just that. Dole also voted last Friday against a measure that would curb excessive speculation in the energy markets, thereby helping to lower gas prices, after claiming to support increased enforcement of the energy markets in an op-ed in the Asheville Citizen-Times and on the U.S. Senate floor.

"Elizabeth Dole has become so adept at this doublespeak dance, and it is exactly the reason why North Carolinians dislike Washington politicians like her,” said Hagan Campaign Communications Director Colleen Flanagan. “She is so wholly ineffective – voting with President Bush 92% of the time, including giving Big Oil and Gas the $17 billion in tax incentives to begin with – that she is constantly saying one thing in North Carolina and doing another in Washington to keep up appearances in both places. The onus is on Senator Dole to explain why, when given the chance just a month ago to repeal those $17 billion in tax breaks to Big Oil and Gas, she chose not to. She has been nothing more than a reliable Bush Rubberstamp Republican, and these attempts to rewrite history, three months before a very tough re-election fight, are embarrassing as best and completely deceitful at worst."

Kay co-sponsored legislation in the state Senate that successfully capped the gas tax in North Carolina, and to help lower gas prices in the short-term, has supported halting deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increasing pressure on OPEC to increase supplies and cracking down on speculators and price gougers who are driving up and artificially inflating the price of oil. Kay also proposed a forward-thinking long-term energy plan in April, which called for taking the billions of dollars in incentives Elizabeth Dole gave to Big Oil and Gas and investing them in renewable energy. Elizabeth Dole has been in Washington for over 40 years, and gas was $1.52 per gallon when she took office.

ELIZABETH DOLE: ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
Election year rhetoric contradicts years of standing up for Big Oil, against middle class families

DOLE’S RHETORIC…

Dole Press Release: “Repeal More Than $17 Billion In Tax Credits To Oil Companies, And Redirect That Revenue To Investments In Alternative And Renewable Energy Resources.” In a press release, Dole said, “Instead of giving oil companies tax breaks to produce more petroleum, we should redirect that funding to investments in alternative and renewable energy resources.” [Dole Senate Office Press Release, 7/25/08]

…IS KAY HAGAN’S REALITY

April 2008: Hagan Energy Plan Called For Repealing Tax Incentives For Big Oil. On April 22, Hagan released an energy plan which stated, “The federal government currently provides approximately $1.8 billion annually in tax breaks and other subsidies to the oil and gas industry….Kay knows that oil and gas companies do not need this kind of federal assistance, and she would redirect these funds to invest in clean energy sources that can create jobs in North Carolina.” [Hagan campaign release, 4/22/08; Hagan Energy Plan, 4/22/08; CBS News, 4/1/08; Atlanta Journal Constitution, 4/2/08]

April 2008: Hagan Energy Plan Called For Investments In Renewable Energy Sources. On April 22, Hagan released an energy plan which stated, “Kay…would have supported one of the provisions that was stripped out of the 2007 energy bill which would have required 15 percent of our nation’s energy supply to come from renewable sources by 2020.” [Hagan campaign release, 4/22/08; Hagan Energy Plan, 4/22/08]

April 2008: Hagan Would Do Away With Incentives For Big Oil, Invest In Renewable Energy. During a debate in April 2008, Hagan said, “First…we’ve got to do away with the incentives for the big oil and gas companies. There’s no reason for them to be getting that, especially when their profits are at an all time high. We’ve also got to be looking at other forms of energy…We’ve got to do all we can to invest those funds into renewable energy.” [UNC-Greensboro debate, 4/29/08]

June 2008: Hagan Campaign Called For Investments In Renewable Energy And Redirecting Oil Subsidies. In a release, a spokesperson for the Hagan campaign said, “Kay knows that any solution to our energy problem will have to reduce costs, increase investments in clean energy, create good jobs in North Carolina that can’t be outsourced, reinvest these misdirected subsides and curb the obscene oil profits that Dole’s friends enjoy at the expense of working North Carolinians.” [Hagan campaign release, 6/10/08]

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS: DOLE HAS CONSISTENTLY SIDED WITH THE INTERESTS OF BIG OIL

July 25: Dole Voted Against Lower Gas Prices. Senator Elizabeth Dole voted against legislation to crack down on oil speculation and market manipulation in energy markets. [Vote 184, 7/25/08]

June 17: Dole Voted Against $18 Billion in Incentives For Green Energy Development. On Tuesday, June 17, Dole sided with wealthy hedge fund managers and multinational corporations instead of voting to provide incentives for clean energy development. [Vote 150, 6/17/08]

June 10: Dole Voted Against Ending $17 Billion In Tax Incentives for Big Oil. On June 10, 2008, Dole voted against a bill to repeal tax benefits for large oil companies and, instead, invest the money into renewable energy development. [Vote 146, 6/10/08]

December 2007: Dole Cast A Deciding Vote Against Renewable Energy Tax Breaks. In December 2007, Dole cast the deciding vote against the passage of a bill that would have extended renewable energy tax breaks by repealing $13 billion in tax breaks from the oil and gas industry. [Vote 425, 12/13/07; CQ Today, 12/13/07]

May 2006: Dole Voted For $5 Billion Tax Break For Big Oil In 2006. In May 2006, Dole voted for $5 billion in tax breaks to big oil companies [Vote 118, 5/11/06; Washington Post, 4/26/06]

November 2005: Dole Voted Against An Amendment Making Price Gouging A Federal Crime. In November 2005, Dole voted to kill an amendment that would have made price gouging on energy products, services or markets a federal crime. [Vote 334, 11/17/05]

July 2005: Dole Vote For $9 Billion In Tax Breaks And Subsidies For Big Oil In 2005. In July 2005, Dole voted for the 2005 energy bill that gave billions to the oil and gas industries. [Vote 213, 7/29/05; CNN, 7/28/05; Associated Press, 7/21/06; Wall Street Journal, 7/18/06; New York Times, 3/27/06]

June 2005: Dole Voted To Kill An Amendment That Would Have Helped Reduce Gas Prices. In June 2005, Dole voted kill an amendment that would have urged the President to encourage the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase production. The amendment also would have called for 1 million barrels of oil to be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve everyday for 30 days, to help relieve rising gas prices. [Vote 147, 6/22/05]

May 2004: Dole Voted For An $18 Billion Energy Tax Break. In May 2004, Dole voted against an amendment that would strike the provisions in the energy bill that would provide $18 billion in energy tax breaks. [Vote 89, 5/11/04]

November 2003: Dole Voted Against Closing The “Enron Loophole,” Improving Energy Transparency. In November 2003, Dole voted against the Feinstein amendment to close what supporters “called the ‘Enron loophole’ in the Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000.” The Feinstein amendment required the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish regulations and an electronic information system to facilitate price transparency and participation in markets subject to FERC jurisdiction. It also would prohibit “round trip” trades, which generate profit without any commodity actually changing hands, and it would increase criminal and civil penalties for violations of the Federal Power Act and general penalties of the Natural Gas Act. [Vote 436, 11/5/03; Environment and Energy Daily, 11/06/03; Associated Press, 11/05/03]

BIG OIL AND GAS REWARDED DOLE FOR HER LOYALTY

Dole Took $14,000 In Oil And Gas PAC Money At The End Of June Alone. In the final days of June, Elizabeth Dole took at least $14,000 from political action committees affiliated with oil and gas companies. The contributions included $5,000 from Exxon Mobil and $4,000 from the Independent Petroleum Association of America, which seeks to maintain “a pro-oil and gas Congress.” [Dole FEC Report, 7/15/08; IPAA Website, Viewed 7/21/08]

Dole Has Taken $526,508 From The Energy & Natural Resources Industry. Since her first run for office in 2002, Dole has taken $526,508 from the energy and natural resource industry, which includes the $215,339 she has taken from their PACs. [Center for Responsive Politics, 7/25/08]

Dole Has Received More Than $266,456 From The Oil & Gas Industry. Since her first run for office in 2002, Dole has received $266,456 from the oil and gas industry. [Center for Responsive Politics, 7/28/08]

Dole Allowed The NRSC To Accept Over $1.2 Million In Donations From The Oil And Gas Industry. During her tenure as the chair of the NRSC, Dole accepted $1,237,342 in donations from the Oil and Gas industry. [Center for Responsive Politics, 2/29/08]