Washington: The Obama administration should abandon plans to raise $45 billion (Dh165.5 billion) by eliminating tax breaks for fossil-fuel producers, US Senator Mary Landrieu said on Wednesday.
"There's going to be fierce opposition to taxing this industry, because it is counter to creating jobs and counter to energy independence," Landrieu, a Democrat, said at a hearing of the Senate energy committee on President Barack Obama's fiscal 2011 budget proposal. Some Democrats will join Republicans to defeat "draconian taxes on the oil and gas industry," Landrieu said.
Obama's budget proposal, which is subject to congressional approval, would raise $36.5 billion from 2011 to 2020 by ending tax credits and deductions for domestic oil and gas production. The plan would collect $8.5 billion more by revising a so-called dual-capacity policy so that oil companies are prevented from getting credit for taxes they pay overseas.
