Senate Republicans Agree to End Big Oil Subsidies After Watching Polar Bear Film


In an stunning reversal, Senate Republicans have accepted President Obama’s call to end tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, reversing a procedural vote on Thursday that had killed the Mendendez Bill (S. 2204 – Repeal Subsidies and Tax Breaks for the Big 5 Oil Companies), introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). On Thursday, the bill was defeated by a vote of 51-47, nine votes short of the 60 required to pass.

But in a rare Saturday afternoon session called by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the measure was swiftly rejuvenated—and passed—after nine of the Republicans who voted against the bill on Thursday had a change of heart after watching a sneak preview on Friday of To the Arctic, a documentary that follows the life of a mother polar bear caring for her two seven-month-old cubs in the Arctic. Narrated by three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, To the Arctic arrives in IMAX theaters on April 20.


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