At several local stations, the price of a gallon of gasoline has passed the $3 mark. Global demand for oil is at an all-time high, with few indications of anything but the most modest of reversals. Energy producers such as ExxonMobil are raking in record profits.

Obviously, something needs to be done — such as rewarding the energy companies with $8 billion in tax breaks:

The vast majority of the tax breaks would benefit companies that produce and supply traditional forms of energy, with a large portion going to the oil and natural gas sector.

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House Republicans stood by the measure, which provides the $8 billion in tax savings over a 10-year period. It was approved by the committee in a 26 to 11 vote that was generally along party lines but with five Democrats supporting the legislation and one Republican voting against it.

You gotta love the priorities of those in the so-called “People’s House”, whose fealty to the petroleum interests are so audacious that only 6% of the proposed tax breaks would be for renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency. Hell, even President Bush’s proposed energy plan — which also relies heavily on giving tax breaks to the insanely profitable — is more generous than that.

Navin Nayak of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said the measure should have included tax breaks for hybrid cars, wind energy production and other efficiency and renewable energy items included in failed 2003 energy legislation. “They’ve clearly gone on a junk-food diet,” Nayak said of the House. “They’ve cut out everything healthy.”

Politicians like to talk a good game about reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil, but when push comes to shove they throw money at the overweight companies who are gorge themselves on that very same dependance. Business as usual.