None of the leading US presidential candidates seems too concerned about energy development and taxation issues.
The Sustainable Energy Coalition recently summarized the candidates' views, based on their responses to questionnaires and their public statements.
Although the report covers all the announced candidates, the Democratic frontrunners appear to be Vice-Pres. Al Gore and former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley. For the Republicans, they are Texas Gov. George W. Bush Jr., Arizona Sen. John McCain, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, and publisher Steve Forbes.
David Nemtzow, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, said his group would rate Gore the highest on environmental issues (but less than perfect), followed by Bradley, McCain, Bush, Hatch, and Forbes, in that order.
On a key issue for environmentalists, global warming, all candidates except Forbes lend credence to the theory. Yet all the Republicans oppose US ratification of the Kyoto treaty.
Exploration
Access to public lands is a key issue for the oil industry.
Gore has pledged to halt offshore drilling in areas where the onshore citizenry opposes it and to veto legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to exploration. Bradley opposes ANWR development.
Bush supports the current moratorium on leasing off California and Florida. Otherwise, he said, "I would encourage exploration. I also have great hope for the natural gas business, (which) is immune to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries."
Without discussing specific regions, McCain said federal land management decisions "must be made in cooperation with the Americans who call those communities home." Forbes advocates ANWR exploration.
Tax issues
The report says, due to the political clout of the Iowa caucuses, all of the leading candidates (except Forbes) support ethanol production tax incentives.
Several have taken tough stands on oil and gas tax incentives.
Bradley would repeal the alternative minimum tax for intangible drilling costs and a 15% tax credit for enhanced oil recovery costs.
Gore said, "Maintaining tax incentives for the production of US coal, oil, and natural gas can help ensure that domestic markets for these products will be supplied from domestic sources. However, such incentives should be regularly reviewed to ensure that they are still necessary and working properly."
McCain recently proposed to end the EOR credit, disallow the deduction of exploration and production capital costs, repeal independent producers' percentage depletion on 15% of the value of their first 1,000 b/d of production, and treat injectants as an operating expense rather than a depreciating asset.
Bush did not mention specific tax items, but said, "We need to wean ourselves off of foreign oil and rely on other (energy) products."
Forbes avoided specifics, too, but charged Bush "has spent much of his professional life in the oil industry, yet clearly he has no energy policy, either short-term or long-term."
More to come.
