Michigan House Votes to Give Sweetheart Deal to Oil Drillers for Valentine’s Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE              
Thursday, February 13, 2014   

           

MORE INFORMATION:
Mike Berkowitz
248-345-9808
mike.berkowitz@sierraclub.org

 

Michigan House Votes to Give Sweetheart Deal to Oil Drillers for Valentine’s Day

LANSING—The Michigan House of Representatives today passed a controversial bill package that gives oil and gas companies new powers to construct pipelines on private property over the objections of Michigan landowners, while giving new tax breaks to industry. HB 4885 (Nesbitt), HB 5254 (Outman), HB 5255 (Stallworth), and HB 5274 (Pettalia)  are designed to encourage so-called enhanced oil recovery operations, which entail pumping carbon dioxide (CO2) into closed oil wells to extract previously unattainable oil. Under the proposed legislation, oil and gas companies would get a 40% break on the oil severance tax while taxes on drilling for gas would be reduced by 20%.

“These bills hurt taxpayers, landowners, and threaten water supplies while giving  taxpayer handouts to the oil and gas industry,” said Mike Berkowitz, Legislative Director for the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter. “Fundamentally, we should not be giving tax breaks to an oil industry that is putting our water at risk and making record profits.”

Supporters of the industry-backed proposals say there will be environmental benefits from carbon sequestration during the oil recovery process that is promoted as part of the bill package.  Those claims, however, ignore the damage that will likely result from expanded drilling in environmentally sensitive areas.   Moreover, any benefits from carbon sequestration must be weighed against disruptive new pipeline construction, well conversions required to accommodate the process, additional air pollution as well as costs and environmental impacts of increased transport of oil.  The combination of increased combustion of oil and other impacts means the bill package will likely result in the release of more greenhouse gases. 

“These bills pose an alarming new threat for all local Michigan residents who are facing aggressive oil, gas and related pipeline construction in their communities.   Sierra Club strongly opposes giving new eminent domain authority to private oil and gas companies at the expense of the rights of private property owners and the public” said Anne Woiwode, Director of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.  “The recent expansion of oil and tar sands pipelines in Michigan has led to many private landowners witnessing pipeline construction within a few yards of their homes or businesses.  Giving oil and gas companies more ability to take lands for the transportation of fossil fuels and pipeline development is the wrong decision for Michigan, for clean water, and for property owners.”

The bills now head to the Michigan Senate.

###                        

 The Sierra Club is the nation’s largest grassroots environmental organization, with over 150,000 members and supporters in Michigan.