Clean Energy Program News

Providence, RI - Government subsidies to oil, coal and nuclear power industries could double if the Senate passes H.R. 4, the House energy bill, according to a report released January 21, 2001 by Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group (RIPIRG), Sierra Club Rhode Island Chapter, and the Rhode Island chapter of Republicans for Environmental Protection among others. "Running on Empty: How Environmentally Harmful Energy Subsidies Siphon Billions from Taxpayers" details new and existing subsidies to oil, coal, gas and nuclear industries that would total $62 billion over the next 10 years.

In "Running on Empty," RIPIRG estimates that existing handouts to polluting energy industries totaling $33 billion will be increased by nearly 100 percent, to $62 billion, if the House energy bill (H.R. 4) is signed into law. Industry allies in Congress are promoting these new subsidies, despite the erosion of a four year budget surplus into a potential $100 billion deficit.

"We're witnessing a doubling in handouts to polluters - a whopping $62 billion in taxpayer money to oil, coal, gas and nuclear industries in combined new and existing subsidies," said Kate Canada, advocate for RIPIRG. "With the tight budget situation we're in, there's a clear challenge here to the Senate to do the right thing and avoid the route the House has taken."

The Senate is poised to begin debate on its own energy bill (S. 1766) in early February. While the legislation is currently incomplete, some dirty energy subsidies are already emerging.

Among the dirty energy subsidies in the House and Senate bills, and the federal budget, targeted by "Running on Empty" are:

· The "clean coal" program that found its way into both the House and Senate energy bills. The federal government has already spent $2 billion on this ineffective subsidy to coal companies and utilities - and the House and Senate bills would hand out at least $2 billion more.

· The Price-Anderson Act, which props up an ailing nuclear industry that produces deadly waste for which there is no safe disposal option. Price-Anderson represents a multi-billion dollar insurance subsidy that shields nuclear power plants from the full cost of a nuclear accident. Corporations like Dominion Generation and Entergy Nuclear Generation Company, the operators of the Millstone 2 & 3 and Pilgrim nuclear power plants in CT and MA, would not be required to fully compensate the citizens of CT and MA in the event of a serious nuclear accident.

· The Department of Energy's oil and coal research and development programs, which are projected to cost taxpayers almost $2.5 billion over the next ten years. These programs subsidize mature, polluting industries and increase American reliance on energy supplies that represent the greatest source of smog, soot and global warming pollution.

"Government handouts to large corporations supporting the doomed oil based energy policies represented by the current House Energy Bill (H.R. 4) are not what the American people want," stated Jerri Coen, Rhode Island representative for Republicans for Environmental Protection. "We believe in new solutions and new technologies to take us successfully into the difficult times ahead. The technologies are available. We need the will to proceed," Coen continued.

Many of these programs, used by some of the nation's biggest corporations, have been subsidized by federal taxpayer dollars for decades. "Adding insult to injury, the companies are using taxpayer money in ways that devastate our water, our air, our land our health," added Kate Canada. "For example, in 2000, an estimated 14,300 citizens of Rhode Island lost work days from power plant pollution," Canada continued

"These handouts represent a reward to the energy polluters that have devastated our environment at taxpayer expense," said Sarah Kite, Conservation Organizer for the Sierra Club. ""We applaud those Senators who are showing the courage needed to move us toward a cleaner, smarter energy future by rejecting the type of thinking behind H.R. 4," continued Kite.

Over the last eight years, the Green Scissors Coalition has helped to cut or eliminate $26 billion in environmentally harmful spending programs from the federal budget.