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Issues > Energy Every year, the federal government spends billions of dollars to subsidize the use and production of polluting forms of energy. These subsidies include tax breaks, government funded research and development, exemptions from paying taxpayers for extracting resources from public lands, and insurance schemes that cap the fiscal liability of the nuclear power industry in the case of an accident. These subsides are going to some of the nation's wealthiest and dirtiest companies, leaving a trail of pollution in their wake. Every year the United States burns more than 900 million tons of coal, releasing more than 51 tons of mercury and two billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the oil industry spills 31,000 gallons of oil into U.S. waterways every day. Meanwhile, nuclear power has left a legacy of 41,000 metric tons of highly irradiated nuclear waste, for which there is no safe disposal option. The bulk of government assistance in the energy sector has been directed to the nation's most profitable and dirtiest energy sources. For example, between 1948 and 1998, the federal government spent $111.5 billion on energy research and development programs. Of this amount, 60 percent, or $66 billion, was dedicated to nuclear energy research, and 23 percent, or $26 billion, was directed to fossil fuel energy research. The administration proposed and Congress debated energy legislation in the 107th Congress that would have increased the subsidies given to these mature and profitable energy sources. The Green Scissors Campaign helped to defeat these efforts. Unfortunately, in April 2003, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2003, which authorizes billions of dollars in new subsidies for the coal, oil and gas, and nuclear power. As the report went to press, the Senate was considering legislation that would also dramatically increase taxpayer handouts to mature and polluting energy sources. Unless otherwise noted, the Green Scissors Campaign is seeking to cut the entire program. |
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