U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner wants to eliminate the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, freeze electric rates and fund clean energy developments, as part of his “Take Back American Energy” plan released Friday.
Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in November, blamed rising energy costs on oil companies, private equity and foreign-owned utilities.
“The solutions are straightforward,” reads Platner’s energy plan. “They simply require the political will: to end big oil’s stranglehold on our energy policy, to slash prices for consumers, and to build the energy of the future.”
A cornerstone of the plan is to cut the 18-cent per-gallon tax on gasoline and 24-cent per-gallon tax on diesel charged by the federal government. Those taxes go to fund U.S. roads and bridges, but Platner said basic transportation infrastructure should be funded by increased taxes on billionaires, rather than regressive sales taxes that hit Maine’s working class.
“Relying on fossil fuels to fund basic infrastructure does not make sense if we want to reduce fossil fuels used in transportation,” Platner said.
The plan also calls for a 50% per-barrel windfall tax on big oil profits and a national freeze on electric rate increases. Platner said any state that pauses or lowers electric rates for four years could get access to low-cost energy infrastructure financing funded by the windfall tax, repurposed fossil fuel subsidies, and federal energy leases.
Platner’s goals also call for a national clean energy infrastructure fund, permitting reform for renewable energy and electric grid expansion, a strategic fuel stockpile for the farming and fisheries industries and a national whole home repair program to weatherize residences and install more efficient heating and cooling systems.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
