'The president-elect's decision to reverse course . . . is a heartening development'

Institute for Energy Research President Thomas Pyle, responding to a Dec. 2 report in the Houston Chronicle that President-Elect Barack Obama has decided not to try and impose a windfall profits tax on US oil producers:

"A windfall profits tax is bad policy at any price, and the history books are filled with examples to prove it. The president-elect's decision to reverse course on imposing this Carter-era burden on those who explore for and produce American energy is a heartening development, both for consumers and an economy struggling to claw its way out of recession.

"And although the president-elect's spokesman was eager to cite oil's recent drop in price as the reason for this shift in policy, I hope the real explanation can be traced back to the millions of American jobs that would be lost under such a tax, and the billions of barrels of oil we'd lose the ability to produce as a result of it."

Contact Nick Snow at nicks@pennwell.com