The bill would open up a tiny little smidgen of space on the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas exploration — just enough that Democrats who vote for it can claim to be pro-drilling, neutralizing one of the Republicans’ most energizing issues going into the November elections. But the benefits of the bill’s meager drilling provisions would be negated (and then some) by $30 billion in tax hikes on U.S. oil companies, placing our own domestic producers at an additional disadvantage compared to their overseas competitors. In exchange for very little new supply, these companies would pay higher taxes related to the crucial activities of exploration and refinery-capacity expansion. To nobody’s great surprise, the industry is not eager to accept this trade.

The money raised by taxing U.S. oil companies would go to pay for $84 billion in new spending on dodgy renewable energy projects — mostly tax credits for hybrid cars and research grants for biofuel production. If you want to know how much of an impact this multi-billion-dollar giveaway for special interests is likely to have on gasoline prices, consider this: Since 2005, Congress has passed two energy bills chock full of subsidies for renewable energy, and gas prices have increased nearly $1.50 per gallon.