All Oiled Up, Bend Over

As oil prices continue to rise and the Obama administration considers dropping subsidies to an industry that made tens of billions in profits in 2010, Big Oil would like to remind you just who the hell is in charge here:  the American Petroleum Institute.

API President and CEO Jack Gerard sharply criticized President Obama proposal to cut billions in subsidies to energy companies, saying it would eliminate thousands of new jobs.

"It’s no surprise the administration is proposing yet again to raise taxes on the U.S. oil and natural gas industry," he said. "But it’s still a bad idea and comes at one of the worst times in our economic history."

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called for investments into clean energy, declaring they should be paid for in part by cutting federal subsidies and tax breaks for the oil industry.

Obama said the United States should get 80 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2035, though he included nuclear power, "clean coal," and natural gas as part of that standard, in addition to wind and solar.

On Thursday, Richard Ranger, a senior policy adviser at API, called on President Obama to lift drilling restrictions on Alaska's outer continental shelf.

In July 2010, Greenpeace obtained an internal memo from the API that showed the institute funded and developed a fake grassroots campaign to attack environmental legislation.

"API will provide the up-front resources," the email said. "This includes contracting with a highly experienced events management company that has produced successful rallies for presidential campaigns."

Remember, Big Oil gets tax breaks of $4 billion plus a year. Exxon Mobil, by itself, made $30 billion in profit last year.

But ending these subsidies will cost "thousands of jobs".  Meanwhile, we have to cut teachers and firefighters and bridges and cops and public safety because "we can't afford it."