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Energy
Campaign
Coal
 The
U.S. continues to subsidize coal power plants without regard to
the total economic costs paid by taxpayers. Eliminating government
support for coal power is a common sense idea that saves taxpayer
money and makes the government more efficient.
Cutting the
Clean Coal Technology Program, which has consistently failed in
the past decade to produce any results, would save taxpayers at
least $250 million per year. Reforming a tax loophole that allows
individual owners to pay a lower rate on capital gains from coal
royalties would generate an additional $15 million in revenue that
could help balance the federal budget.
One especially
wasteful tax credit that should be eliminated is the Non-Conventional
Fuel Production Credit, commonly known as the "synfuel"
credit. The program's intended purpose was to reduce dependence
on oil, but it has instead become a farce. Superficial changes to
coal, such as spraying on substances like diesel and starch, outrageously
qualify them as "non-conventional," allowing coal companies
to avoid paying $1.3 billion in taxes per year.
Subsidy Payment
Resources:
- April
21, 2005
-- "Clean Coal" subsidies and the energy bill
- April
13, 2005 -- The synfuels scam and the energy bill
- April
12, 2005 -- TCS Letter to the Ways & Means Committee:
Support the Doggett Amendment to Eliminate the Synfuels Scam
- May
7, 2003 -- TCS Action Letter to the Senate: "Oppose Section
29 Tax Credits in the Senate Energy Bill; Support Any Amendment
to Strike"
- April
25, 2002 -- TCS Action Letter to the Hill: "Oppose Billions
in Energy Subsidies - Vote "NO" on Final Passage of
Energy Bill"
- March
8, 2002 -- Wastebasket Vol. VII No. 10: A Sinful Tax Giveaway
- June
27, 2001 -- Statement by Autumn Hanna, Policy Analyst at Taxpayers
for Common Sense on the Bush Administration’s Energy Proposals
- May
17, 2001 -- Analysis
of Bush Administration’s energy task force report released
on May 17, 2001, by Cena Swisher, Program Director. Taxpayers
for Common Sense
Resources:
- Crude Substitute: The Folly of Liquid Coal (video)
- May
12, 2003 -- An Overview of Senate Energy Bill Subsidies
to the Fossil Fuel Industry
- April
11, 2003 -- Wastebasket Vol. VIII No. 15: Christmas in April
for the Energy Industry
- April
10, 2003 -- TCS Action Letter to the House: "RE: OPPOSE
the Energy Policy Act of 2003; SUPPORT Kind Amendment on Oil and
Gas Provisions; SUPPORT Udall Amendment on Uranium Mining"
- April
10, 2003 -- TCS Action Letter to the House: "RE: Oppose
the Energy Policy Act of 2003, H.R. 6"
- March
18, 2003 -- TCS Action Letter to the Hill: RE: Oppose the
Energy Policy Act of 2003"
- May
2, 2002 -- Wastebasket Vol. VII No. 18: The Energy Bill Scam
- April
25, 2002 -- TCS Action Letter to the Hill: "Oppose Billions
in Energy Subsidies - Vote "NO" on Final Passage of
Energy Bill"
- February
15, 2002 -- Wastebasket Vol. VII No. 7: End the Clean Coal
Program
- August
2, 2001 -- Billions in Energy Subsidies, Tax Breaks Approved
by House
- June
27, 2001 -- Statement by Autumn Hanna, Policy Analyst at Taxpayers
for Common Sense on the Bush Administration’s Energy Proposals
- May
17, 2001 -- Analysis of Bush Administration’s energy
task force report released on May 17, 2001, by Cena Swisher, Program
Director. Taxpayers for Common Sense
- March
6, 2001
-- Written statement by Cena Swisher, Program Director at Taxpayers
for Common Sense on the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
hearing entitled: "National Energy Policy: Coal"
- July
21, 1999 -- Senate Interior Bill A Windfall for the Timber,
Oil, Mining, and Coal Industries
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