For Release: Immediate
Contact:
Rebecca Pollard
Communications Director, Maine Democratic Party
Victory 2008 Coordinated Campaign
rpollard@mainedems.org
(207) 772-4353
Susan Collins: Changing with the Climate
From the Maine Democratic Party
Earth Day - Tuesday, April 22, 2008
On this Earth Day, we thought you would be interested to see the difference between what Susan Collins says about energy independence and the environment and her actual voting record:
TAX BREAKS FOR OIL AND GAS CONGLOMERATES
Last Week
"I support tax reform that would curtail billions of dollars of needless tax breaks for the oil industry and instead redirect the funds to support alternative energy sources," she said. [Portland Press Herald, 4/15/08]
July 29, 2005
- Susan Collins voted for the Bush-Cheney Energy Bill, which gave more than $14 billion in tax breaks and incentives to Big Oil at the same time they were making record profits. [Vote #213, 7/29/05]
2006, 2005, 2001
- In 2006, Susan Collins twice voted for legislation that would authorize drilling in about 8.3 million acres of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, including about 2.5 million acres within a section of the eastern Gulf of Mexico known as "Lease Area 181," and direct a portion of the drilling proceeds to states for coastal restoration. [Vote #218, 7/31/06; Vote #219, 8/1/06; CQ, 8/1/06]
- In 2001, Susan Collins voted to kill an amendment that would prohibit the use of funds to execute a final lease agreement for oil and gas development in the area known as 'Lease Sale 181' in the Gulf of Mexico, before April 1, 2002. [Vote #231, 7/12/01]
OIL COMPANY PROFITS
Three weeks ago - March 29, 2008
"[Collins] supports taking the tax subsidies now given to large oil companies despite the huge profits they are currently earning, and redirecting the money to businesses for research and development into alternative energy sources." [Seacoast Online, 3/29/08]
November 17, 2005
- Senator Collins voted against an effort to rein in the record-level profits being made by oil and gas companies, at the same time Mainers were struggling to heat their homes and fill up their gas tanks. She voted against an amendment that would impose a temporary windfall profit tax on crude oil and to rebate the tax collected back to American consumers. [Vote 331, 11/17/05]
ENVIRONMENTAL PRIORITIES
Two Days Ago:
"Susan Collins says she and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein have introduced a resolution to designate May 16 as the third annual Endangered Species Day." [Portland Press Herald, 4/20/08]
2004, 2005
- In 2005, Collins voted for a budget resolution that cut funding for environment and natural resource programs by $3.3 billion. The funding cut would mean that by 2010, the programs would be funded 21 percent below the level needed to maintain current activity. Programs that faced cuts included: the Land and Water Conservation Fund and programs to clean up water, protect oceans and coasts, and conserve agricultural lands. [Vote #114, 4/28/05]
- In 2004, Collins voted for a budget resolution that cut funding for environment and natural resource programs by $2.8 billion. The cuts would mean that over a five-year period, environmental programs would be slashed to 14 percent below the level needed to maintain current operations. [Vote #58, 3/12/04]
- In 1998, Collins voted against an amendment that would have restored funding for President Clinton's proposed Environmental Resources Fund for America, which was a major initiative designed to fund a wide array of environment and natural resources programs. [Vote #65, 4/2/98]