Earth Equity News

Fed Subsidies for Fossil Fuel From 02 to 08 Were $72 Billion. By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Houston Chronicle, September 19, 2009. "The U.S. government delivered more than twice as many federal dollars to research initiatives, tax incentives and other programs benefiting fossil fuels than it supplied to renewable energy from 2002 to 2008, according to a report [PDF, 37 pp]released Friday by two public policy groups. Over that seven-year period, government subsidies to fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas totaled about $72 billion, according to the study by the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars and the Environmental Law Institute... At the same time, government spending on traditional renewable energy sources such as wind and solar totaled $12.2 billion. Another $16.8 billion went to ethanol made from corn. 'With climate change and energy legislation pending on Capitol Hill, our research suggests that more attention needs to be given to the existing perverse incentives for dirty fuels in the U.S. tax code,' said the institute's senior attorney, John Pendergrass."