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Department of Energy: Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Program

Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) authorized the Department of Energy Advanced Technology Vehicles...

Taxpayer Supports for Biomass in Federal Farm Bill

For years, proponents of bioenergy and biofuels promised that the industry would help reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, decrease...

Small Modular Reactors: Federal Subsidies for Mini Nukes

The Department of Energy (DOE) is asking Congress to provide $452 million in taxpayer subsidies to help license up to two experimental...

Federal Subsidies for the United States Enrichment Corporation

The United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) was established in 1992 as a wholly-owned federal entity until it was privatized in 1998....

DOE Loan Guarantee Program: Vogtle Reactors 3&4

In February 2010, the Department of Energy (DOE) conditionally offered Southern Company and its partners a total of $8.33 billion in...

Biomass Crop Assistance Program Fact Sheet

The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), a new program added to the energy title in the 2008 farm bill, was intended to spur...

Biorefinery Assistance Program Fact Sheet

The Biorefinery Assistance Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development office, was intended to...

Department of Energy Loan Guarantees: Biofuels and Biomass

Created as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program has $34 billion in...

Taxpayer Supports for Corn Ethanol in Federal Legislation

Since its creation of the domestic market for corn ethanol after the energy crisis of the 1970s, the federal government has nurtured and...

Repowering Assistance Program Fact Sheet

The Repowering Assistance Program, administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development office, reimburses...

Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels Fact Sheet

Established by an Executive Order in 1999, the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels (BPAB) is intended to pay advanced biofuels...

Rural Energy for America Program Fact Sheet

The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) was created in the 2008 farm bill to provide federal grants and loans to renewable energy...

Biomass Research and Development Initiative Fact Sheet

The Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) provides grants to companies, universities, and government research centers to...

Political Footprint of the Corn Ethanol Lobby

The federal government has in one form or another provided lucrative subsidies to the corn ethanol industry for more than 30 years,...

Taxpayer Subsidies for Small Modular Reactors

The Department of Energy (DOE) is asking Congress to provide hundreds of millions in subsidies to commercialize small modular nuclear...

Energy Tax Breaks Catch Ride on Fiscal Cliff Train

At the 11th hour lawmakers and the White House agreed to a deal on the fiscal cliff. While the deal was crafted to address urgent tax...

Oil Shale: Failing Taxpayers for Decades

Since the early 20th century, the federal government and private industry have attempted to commercialize oil shale but after years of...

Subsidizing Oil Shale: Tracing Federal Support for Oil Shale Development in the United States

With fiscal cliff looming, TCS calls for end to government handouts for failed oil shale experiments....

Loan Guarantee Program 101

A basic primer on the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program and answers general questions on the history, administration, and overall effect of the program....

Coal Subsidy Database

Over the years the coal industry has received billions in federal subsidies, in a variety of forms including direct grants, loan...

Green Scissors Campaign 101

A basic primer on the Green Scissors campaign and answers general questions about the history and goals of the coalition....

Sliding Past Sequestration: $2 Trillion in Common Sense Cuts to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff

In the summer of 2011, Congress sent the President a bill that acknowledged failure. Instead of swallowing hard and coming up with...

Not So “Supercritical” Spending

Coal-fired energy production is one of the oldest and most profitable industries in the world. Yet despite decades of success, the well-established coal industry remains on the federal dole. ...

Analysis of FY13 Continuing Resolution: Special Carve-outs

H.J. Res. 117 — Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 was released this morning (9/11/2012). TCS staff will be posting relevant documents and analysis as we digest this proposal over the coming days....

Big Oil Makes Top Dollar

The first half of 2012 has brought more multi-billion dollar profits for major oil companies. So far, these companies have raked in more...

Green Scissors Report 2012

Green Scissors 2012 is produced by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and R Street to highlight and end wasteful and environmentally harmful federal spending. This diverse coalition of environmental, taxpayer and free-market groups has come together to show how the government can save billions of tax dollars and improve our environment. ...

Department of Energy Loan Guarantees: $8 Billion Allocated for Fossil Fuel Projects

While the program was intended for emerging energy technologies, mature industries like coal and nuclear are eligible as well. Congress provided the program with funding in several areas including advanced nuclear reactors, renewable and energy efficiency, front-end nuclear fuel cycle technology, and advanced fossil fuels....

Coal Industry Profits

For centuries the federal government has been in the business of providing billions in subsidies to coal companies in order to ensure...

MOX Misses the Mark

Despite the ever-increasing price tag, incessant delays in progress, and known safety risks, the Department of Energy continues to pour federal subsidies into the Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX) program year after year. ...

Department of Energy Loan Guarantees: Uranium Enrichment

The Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program was created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide Treasury backed loan...

Big Oil Tops $150 Billion in Profits in 2011

With annual financial reports being released this time of year, the oil and gas industry is looking to continue its decade long trend of...

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Too Costly for Taxpayers

Carbon capture and storage (CCS), also referred to as carbon capture and sequestration, is the process of separating carbon dioxide (CO2)...

Department of Energy Loan Guarantees: Renewable and Energy Efficiency

The Department of Energy loan guarantee program that backed Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer which went bankrupt on August 31, 2011...

Taxpayer-Backed Loan Guarantees for Liquid Coal: Medicine Bow, Wyoming

The Medicine Bow plant has been repeatedly delayed over eight years. Putting the full faith and credit of the U.S. government behind this costly and risky project is fiscally reckless. ...

FutureGen Project Timeline

February 2003: Bush Administration announces initiative to develop zero-emissions “clean coal” power plant. The plant would burn coal to...

The Department of Energy FutureGen Initiative

The latest iteration of the Department of Energy’s FutureGen project (find a timeline here) is a federal initiative to finance and...

Cashing In: Biofuels Industry Buys Congress’s Continued Support

Taxpayers for Common Sense released today a report detailing the heavily subsidized biofuels industry's political clout. The biofuels...

Big Oil, Big Profits

Another quarter, another unsurprising set of reports of huge profits for the oil companies. Continuing to be some of the most profitable...

Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program: Uranium Enrichment

The Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program was created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide Treasury backed loan...

Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program: Status Update on Proposed, Pending, and Final Applicants

Passed as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program currently has $34.8...

Super Cuts for the Super Committee

Taxpayers for Common Sense has been working hard to meet the challenge of that the so-called Super Committee is facing - $1.2-1.5...

Green Scissors 2011

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined environmental, consumer watchdog, and free-market groups today to release Green Scissors 2011, which...

Myth v. Fact: Oil and Gas Companies’ Effective Tax Rate

              MYTH: OIL AND GAS COMPANIES HAVE A HIGH EFFECTIVE TAX RATE “The effective tax rate for the industry is...

No Deal on Ethanol for Taxpayers

A small group Senators are attempting to snatch fiscal defeat from the jaws of taxpayer victory on ethanol subsidies. Last month the...

Big Oil, Big Corn: An in-depth look at the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit

Big Oil, Big Corn: An in-depth look at the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit Corn has been subsidized since the 1930s, but it was...

Subsidy Gusher: Taxpayers Stuck With Massive Subsidies While Oil and Gas Profits Soar

There are a couple of basic truths about oil and gas companies today--they are highly profitable, heavily subsidized, and well-connected...

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit: History and Current Policy

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) is the largest subsidy to corn ethanol, the most common biofuel in the U.S. The tax...

The President’s FY2012 Proposed Cuts to Fossil Fuel Subsidies

In keeping with President Obama’s call to end fossil fuel subsidies, the latest budget proposal includes several significant cuts to oil,...

Taxpayer Risks with the Loan Guarantee Program

The Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee program carries extremely high taxpayer risk, potentially jeopardizing billions of taxpayer dollars if energy project loans default....

Common Sense Cuts—$900 billion in savings over 10 years

The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and...

TCS Recommended Budget Cut List No. 2: Total Cuts $205+ billion

The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and...

TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: Energy

Taxpayers have been subsidizing the same mature, polluting energy technologies for decades. Many projects and outdated programs still...

TCS Recommended Budget Cuts for the 112th Congress

The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and...

TCS and the Wilderness Society Release Report: Fair Market Value for Wind and Solar Development on Public Land

A review and analysis of the laws and regulations governing the collection and use of revenues from commercial energy development on federal lands and is a guide for policy-makers to use in developing appropriate policies for wind and solar energy projects....

Common Sense Reforms for the 112th Congress

As the dawn of the 112th Congress draws near, there are several reforms Congress should enact, regardless of which party is in control....

Green Scissors 2010

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined a number of environmental and consumer groups and a bipartisan slate of Representatives today in...

New Report Finds DOE Loan Guarantee Program Riddled with Problems

 The Government Accountability Office released a new report today, finding that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program...

Federal Loan Guarantees for Nuclear Reactors: Details of the Current Applicants

On February 16, 2010, the Department of Energy offered the first conditional nuclear loan guarantee of $8.3 billion to Southern Company...

Fool Me Once–Energy Legislation Should Include Royalty System for Wind and Solar Projects on Taxpayer Lands

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has refocused Congress’ attention on energy and climate legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...

Oil and Gas Industry: A Decade of Record Breaking Profits

Big Oil has made Big Money over the last decade. In fact, the last five years proved to be some of the most profitable for any U.S....

Details on the President’s Proposed Fossil Fuel Cuts

In keeping with President Obama’s call to end fossil fuel subsidies, the latest budget proposal includes several significant cuts to oil,...

DOE Loan Guarantees: Overview, Risks, and More

Created in Title 17 of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program has received increased scrutiny with the default of a loan guarantee to the solar start-up company, Solyndra....

Senate Version of The Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA)

Both the House and Senate have proposed the creation of the new federal financing entity known as the Clean Energy Deployment...

Congressional Budget Office Analysis Confirms Senate CEDA Jeopardizes Billions of Taxpayer Dollars

The American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 (ACELA), S. 1462, as approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in...

Coal to Liquids: A Costly Gamble

Discovered by German scientists during World War II, the Fischer-Tropsch process – referred to by the Department of Energy as...

The Amazing Waste: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Funding

Despite being expensive, inefficient, and ineffective, hydrogen fuel cell technologies have received more than $1.4 billion in federal...

Oil and Gas Royalties: Relief for Oil and Gas Companies, a Fiscal Headache for Taxpayers

Oil and gas companies that drill offshore or on public lands are required to pay for the oil and gas they remove in the form of...

UPDATE: The President’s 2010 Budget: Reining in Oil and Gas Subsidies

The president’s fiscal year 2010 budget repeals several long-standing oil and gas subsidies, saving an estimated $31.7 billion over the...

Nuclear Industry Subsidies

Since the nation began using nuclear energy, the federal government has provided billions in subsidies to the industry. More than $85...

Coal: A Long History of Subsidies

Subsidies to the coal industry began in 1932, when the federal government allowed companies to deduct a portion of their income to help...

Department of Energy: Loan Guarantee Program Overview

Created in Title 17 of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program has received increased scrutiny with the default of a loan guarantee to the solar start-up company, Solyndra....

TCS Fact Sheet: Coal Industry Profits

In 1932, the federal government began giving subsidies to the coal industry in order to help the industry recover initial capital...

Ethanol Subsidies: Too Much for Too Little

Through a combination of subsidies, trade restrictions, and government mandates a handful of corporate agribusinesses and oil companies...

Nuclear Subsidies Past and Present

Since the beginning of nuclear energy the federal government has provided billions in handouts to the industry. More than $85 billion has...

Analysis of Energy Tax Provisions Included in the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

The following is a summary of the non-consumer energy tax breaks included in H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008....

Oil and Gas Subsidies: Overview

Taxpayer subsidies to the oil and gas industry have played a major role in U.S. energy policy since 1916. Two of the largest tax breaks,...

Nuclear Reprocessing

Nuclear fuel reprocessing is the process of collecting nuclear waste to recover and reuse plutonium and uranium. Despite decades of...

FY2009 Appropriations Bills: TCS Analyses and Earmark Databases

The following are links to TCS's analysis and database for each of the FY09 appropriations bills. (Note: With the exception of House...

Royalty-in-Kind: A Costly Complication

Under intense pressure from the oil and natural gas industry, the Minerals Management Service (MMS)1 started the Royalty-in-Kind (RIK)...

Clean Coal Projects: Cleaning Out the Pockets of Taxpayers

Since the late 1970’s, the federal government has funneled billions of dollars into “Clean Coal” technology and programs designed to make...

Oil and Gas Subsidies, Profits and Production: Colorado and Across the Nation

This is the first in a series of state specific analyses Taxpayers for Common Sense is completing on energy industry subsidies, profits and production. The goal of these analyses will be to raise awareness of the national subsidies the oil and gas industry receives....

Coal Subsidies: Energy Policy Act of 2005

The coal industry received more than $9 billion in loans, research funds, tax breaks and other subsidies in the Energy Policy Act of...

Golden Fleece Award

Taxpayers for Common Sense Announces New Golden Fleece Recipient Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority - Taxpayer Funded Cheerleaders...

Nuclear Subsidies General Fact Sheet

Since the beginning of nuclear energy the federal government has provided billions in handouts to the industry. Nuclear power has...

‘Relief’ for Oil and Gas A Fiscal Headache for Taxpayers

“Now, we don’t think oil companies need tax incentives or subsidies to drill for oil at $70 a barrel, or for that matter at $25.”  Wall...

Oil and Gas Royalty Relief Fact Sheet

“Relief” for Oil and Gas A Fiscal Headache for Taxpayers “Now, we don’t think oil companies need tax incentives or subsidies to drill...

Top Ten Worst 2005 Energy Bill

OCS inventory: Government sources estimate that a full inventory of America’s Outer Continental Shelf would cost the government...

Nuclear Subsidies in 2005 Energy Bill

For more than a half century the federal government has provided billions in handouts to the nuclear power industry. And today the...

A Total Rip-off: Taxpayer Dollars Wasted on the Energy Sector

Nuclear energy, once widely hailed as ‘too cheap to meter,” has become one of the most expensive sources of electricity, due to the high...

Analysis of Authorized Spending in Energy Bill (2003)

Analysis of Senate Energy Bill of 2003

As the Senate brings their energy policy legislation to the floor this week, it is clear that their bill is as filled with perks for...

Analysis of H.R. 6 ﾖ Energy Policy Act of 2003

PDF Description: The current 768 page, 5 inch thick energy legislation is fueled by pork and will do very little to reduce energy prices or...

Analysis HR6 - Energy Policy Act of 2003

The current 768 page, 5 inch thick energy legislation is fueled by pork and will do very little to reduce energy prices or increase...

Energy Polluter Poised to Reap $62 Billion in Taxpayer Handouts

WASHINGTON, DC - Government subsidies to oil, coal and nuclear power industries could double if the Senate passes the House energy bill...

Oil and Gas Subsidies Overview

Subsidies for oil and natural gas began in 1916 with the federal government creating its first tax breaks for oil and gas production....

Nuclear Subsidies Overview

There is a long tradition of providing massive subsidies for nuclear power in the U.S. Between 1948 and 1998; more than $66 billion was...

Syria: Excuse 535 To Not Cut the Deficit

Volume XVIII No. 37 Possible action in Syria has become the most recent excuse du jour for Pentagon boosters...