"I'm in the oil and
gas business these days."

Follow the fingerprints:
Bob Schaffer speech to the
Heritage Foundation, February 28, 2007

On June 21, 2001, Bob Schaffer voted against a plan to help Colorado families reduce the cost of home heating and cooling. $24 million would have helped low-income families weatherize their homes. Why would he do that?

Follow the fingerprints: The plan would have cut $52 million in handouts to the oil and gas industry. (House Roll Call Vote 178)





Documentation

Fact: "Accepting over $150,000 dollars in campaign contributions from oil and gas interests."

Over his career, Schaffer has raised $151,326 in campaign contributions from oil and gas interests. (1996: $20,750, 1998: $21,900, 2000: $15,876, 2002: $2,000, 2004: $5,550, 2008: $85,250)

Source:

  • Campaign Money Watch analysis of campaign finance data from the Federal Election Commission and the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Fact: "And voting in Congress to give oil and gas companies over 13 billion dollars in tax breaks."

H.R. 4 (House roll call vote 320, 8/1/01) included $21 billion in subsidies that would benefit the oil and gas industries, $13.995 billion through tax breaks. Schaffer voted for this legislation.

Source:

  • "Polluter Payday: How The House Energy Plan Benefits Big Oil And Other Polluters At Taxpayers' Expense," U.S. Public Interest Research Group, November 2001
  • "National Environmental Scorecard," League of Conservation Voters, February 2002
  • "Estimated Revenue Effects of a Chairman's Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to the ‘Energy Tax Policy Act of 2001,'" Joint Committee on Taxation, July 2001


$505/year

The EPA estimates that the average passenger vehicle drives an average of 12,000 miles per year. http://www.epa.gov/oms/climate/420f05004.htm

The Energy Information Administration predicts an average cost of a gallon of gasoline in 2008 of $3.52. http://www.eia.doe.gov/steo

Using the DOE/EPA calculator at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/savemoney.shtml, a vehicle averaging 27.5 mpg will save $505 in gas annually compared to a vehicle averaging 20.7mpg.

$26.4 billion in crude oil in 2007

The Boehlert-Markey amendment to H.R. 4 would have reduced US oil consumption by 1 million barrels per day by 2007. On August 1, 2001, the House rejected the amendment by a 160-269 vote (House roll call vote 311). Schaffer voted "No"

The average cost of one barrel of oil in 2007 - $72.32 (http://www.eia.doe.gov/steo)

1,000,000 x $72.32 x 365 = $26.4 billion

Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, 202-785-8683, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee



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Schaffer Makes Breathtaking
Defense of Big Oil

Addressing energy issues with Colorado reporters on Aug. 15, Bob Schaffer - who made $386,000 last year as an oil company executive and who has taken nearly $250,000 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry - defended oil companies' record profits as "modest' and said the federal government was "raking in a bunch of cash right now on the backs of energy producers.""  Big Oil made $140 billion in profits last year and just last month ExxonMobil announced a quarterly profit of $11.68 billion, the largest in history by any corporation.

Click here to listen to Schaffer's remarks here:



Schaffer Acknowledges U.S. Officials
Were Opposed
July 17, 2008, The Pueblo Chieftain

Schaffer has come under fire for his ties to the oil and gas industry, and recently his former employer, Aspect Energy, was criticized by the U.S. State Department for a deal with the Kurdistan regional government, bypassing the Iraqi government.

Now, Schaffer acknowledges that U.S. officials in Baghdad did not want U.S. oil companies doing business directly with the Kurds. read more...click here

Experts rip Schaffer's Iraq oil deal
July 11, 2008, Rocky Mountain News

Two foreign policy experts ripped GOP Senate candidate Bob Schaffer Friday, saying an oil deal his company negotiated in a region of Iraq jeopardized the safety of American troops. read more...click here

WE ALL KNEW that Bob Schaffer put oil company profits before the people of Colorado, but now we learn that Bob's fingerprints are all over a questionable oil deal in Iraqi Kurdistan (K.R.G.) that could put American troops in harm's way.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports that a deal that Schaffer helped negotiate while serving as an executive at Aspect Energy may be destabilizing Iraq. The deal, and others like it, are in violation of Iraqi law and against the express advice of the U.S. State Department. One senior State Department official in Baghdad told the New York Times, "We believe these contracts have needlessly elevated tensions between the K.R.G. and the national government of Iraq."

Schaffer pleads ignorance, and claims that he didn't know that the State Department advised against cutting deals with the K.R.G. Colorado deserves better than ignorance in its next U.S. Senator. Colorado deserves better than shoddy and shady deal making.

For years, Schaffer has worked to maximize oil company profits at the expense of the health and economic security of American citizens. He's willing to sacrifice the stability of Iraq and the safety of our troops in order for oil companies to make more money. We must demand better from our leaders. We must demand better than Bob Schaffer.

  • For background on oil deals in Kurdistan, visit The New York Times
  • To read the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel story, click here

    On August 1, 2001, Schaffer voted against raising the miles per gallon of SUVs and light trucks from 20.7 to 27.5mpg. Colorado families with one SUV would have saved an average of $505 each year at the pump. Why would he do that?

    Follow the fingerprints: This would have reduced US oil consumption by 1 million barrels per day, totaling $26.4 billion in crude oil in 2007.(House Roll Call Vote 311)

    That same day, Schaffer voted to include more than $21 billion in subsidies and tax breaks for the oil and gas industry. Why would he do that?

    Follow the fingerprints: Schaffer has taken more than $150,000 in contributions and $900,000 in fat paychecks from the oil and gas industry. (House Roll Call Vote 320, Campaign Money Watch; Schaffer's personal financial disclosures)

    On June 21, 2000 and July 27, 2001, Schaffer voted against plans to reduce the level of arsenic in our drinking water. Why would he do that?

    We have no idea. (House Roll Call Vote 304, 2000; House Roll Call Vote 288, 2001)