John Carney and Fossil Fuel Subsidies

It's good to know that John Carney can show a little good humor these days. A story in the News Journal catches him letting off a little steam:

The fiscal 2011 spending issue, he said, "should have been put to bed weeks ago" so lawmakers could move on to the more difficult and significant issue of next year's budget. Republicans were trying to insert a "right-wing conservative social agenda" into the spending bill and creating "one more roadblock to doing the business we were sent here to do."

He paused to catch his breath.

"Everything else is fine," he said, laughing.

I like it that he proposed taking even a small step towards cutting the pointless subsidies for fossil fuels:

Carney has introduced two proposals as the lead sponsor. One would create a national park in Delaware. The other was an unsuccessful measure to eliminate $50 million for oil and gas research and development. President Barack Obama's proposed fiscal 2012 budget supported eliminating the oil and gas money, but the measure was opposed by 82 Democrats.

"My takeaway from that is that the oil and gas industry has a lot of people doing their bidding," Carney said. "It just kind of shows you what we're up against in terms of moving towards energy independence and in terms of addressing climate change."

Given the mood for cutting the deficit, I see no justification for continuing subsidies for a mature and immensely profitable industry.