Clinton touts fuel plan, blasts Obama for backing 'Bush-Cheney energy bill'

摘要

With gasoline prices continuing to climb last week, Senator Hillary Clinton unveiled a plan for curbing the cost of fuel, one that she said would distinguish her from her Democratic rival for president, Senator Barack Obama, as well as the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain. Clinton's plan includes a windfall profits tax on oil companies, with the proceeds used to temporarily suspend federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel this summer. The New York Democrat would also pressure OPEC countries to increase oil production by threatening to file World Trade Organization complaints against them if they did not comply. Among other provisions, her plan would rescind $7.5 billion in tax breaks for oil and natural gas companies to raise federal energy aid for low-income households; crack down on speculation in energy trading by expanding federal regulation over such activities; and stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.