Washington, D.C. – In a speech from the Oval Office last night, President Obama attempted to both admonish British Petroleum (BP) for the disastrous Gulf oil spill and yet leave open a pathway to “energy reform” that consists of little more than sweetheart deals for corporate behemoths like BP.

Obama is joined by other prominent Congressional Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, in a renewed push for cap and trade legislation that would effectively ration energy, increasing costs for American consumers and most businesses.  However, ingrained in the model legislation they support, a bill authored by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) called the “American Power Act,” are multi-billion dollar handouts for select corporations.  This opportunist handful of companies including General Electric, Duke Energy, and BP hope to profit from the draconian regulations in Kerry-Lieberman and in fact are working aggressively to ensure the legislation passes.  

In fact, corporations involved in the “United States Climate Action Partnership” (USCAP), have been working hard for the last few years to shape energy and climate change legislation.

BP, a founding member of USCAP, has been only too happy to support the policy contained in Kerry-Lieberman with the understanding that they would be able to profit from the costly new regulations that will force consumers to pay more for energy.

FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey commented, “The President is going to have a tough time saying straight-faced to the American people that while BP is to blame for the oil spill in the Gulf, the solution to our energy woes is to pass the legislation they support.”  

Armey further stated, “Last night, President Obama said ‘Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash American innovation and seize control of our own destiny.’  I could not agree more. The way to achieve this is allow the American entrepreneurial spirit to flourish unencumbered by the heavy-hand of government regulation.”

For any questions, please contact Adam Brandon at (202) 942-7698.