"Last November, oil industry representatives huddled with conservative state lawmakers at a hotel a few blocks from the White House.
The gathering was a covert affair. Reporters were barred from the room. Attendees cast votes in secret.
The meeting was organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council, the conservative bill-writing group. A topic of discussion was the federal electric vehicle tax credit, which allows people who purchase EVs to receive up to $7,500 after filing their tax returns.
Representatives of the oil industry — including those from Marathon Petroleum Corp., the nation's largest refiner — spoke out against the tax credit, according to people in the room. The attendees ultimately voted to support a resolution calling for Congress to scrap the popular subsidy."
