Strange Bedfellows Unite To Denounce Energy Subsidies

By Anastasia Degtyarenko

An unlikely group of liberal and conservative advocates called on Congress Wednesday to take a pair of “Green Scissors” to the federal budget.

The organizations Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Public Citizen and the Heartland Institute said eliminating subsidies for programs that have potentially negative impacts on the environment would save taxpayers millions of dollars.

A report co-authored by the groups, entitled Green Scissors 2011, identified a list of cuts that could save $380 billion over five years and protect the environment in the process.

Some of the cuts include:

    •    $72,000,000,000 for general revenue transfers to the Highway Trust Fund.

    •    $30,000,000,000 for crop insurance.

    •    $4,820,000,000 for Oil and Gas Royalty relief.

“The wrong spending is not just a bad idea, it’s not just wasteful, it’s actually harmful,” said Heartland Institute Vice President Eli Lehrer during a conference call with reporters.

By targeting oil, farm and transportation subsidies, the groups are hoping to persuade lawmakers to embrace emerging energy technologies.

“These subsidies really hold back innovations because they protect grandfathers’ fields and grandfathers’ technologies that keep the new technology from coming to market,” said former Rep. Robert Ingils (R-S.C.).

Advocates, however, are aware that industries will fight energy reform tooth and nail.

“The only reason there are obstacles to eliminating this long list of corporate welfare benefits is a political power of the benefices areas,” said Public Citizen President Robert Weissman.

Moreover, there are obvious worries that moving to alternative energy sources will still require governmental aid and assistance. For example, a plan being looked at in Congress to gradually replace oil consumption in vehicles with natural gas would cost taxpayers billions in the form of subsidies and tax credits.