SUBSIDIES FOR FOSSIL FUELS TO DOUBLE

(ENS) - Government subsidies to oil, coal and nuclear power industries could double if the Senate approves a House energy bill (HR 4), according to a report by the Green Scissors Campaign, a coalition of environmental and citizens groups. Including Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the US Public Interest Research Group, the campaign works with Congress and the administration to end environmentally harmful and wasteful spending.

"Running on Empty: How Environmentally Harmful Energy Subsidies Siphon Billions from Taxpayers" details new and existing subsidies to oil, coal, gas and nuclear power industries that would total $62 billion over the next 10 years.

"The richest polluters in the land are already raking in enormous, mind-boggling handouts," said Erich Pica, director of the Green Scissors Campaign. The report estimates that existing subsidies and tax breaks to polluting energy industries totaling $33 billion will nearly double, to $62 billion, if the House energy bill is signed into law. Coal, oil and nuclear industry allies in Congress are demanding these new subsidies.

The now bankrupt Enron, which paid no corporate income tax in four of the last five years, would have benefited from tax breaks on pipelines as well as royalty subsidies in the House bill. Both ChevronTexaco and British Petroleum have vast assets in the Gulf of Mexico and could benefit from royalty relief and research and development programs targeted towards activities in the Gulf.

"The subsidies and tax breaks in HR 4 reward the oil, coal and nuclear industries that dirty our water and foul our air," said US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) staff attorney Pierre Sadik. "The Senate should reject these enormous polluter giveaways, and move us toward a cleaner, smarter, and more secure energy future."

Susanna Drayne, representing the Sustainable Energy Coalition, said, "The House bill sets back national energy policy with handouts to already profitable and mature industries. It relies on dirty, expensive, and dangerous fossil fuels and nuclear power. The US has three percent of global oil reserves but accounts for 25 percent of global demand, and no amount of drilling at home will enable us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. A sound energy policy should give priority to increasing energy efficiency in every sector of our economy and greatly expanding use of our abundant renewable energy resources."