Why Only Fossil Fuels Deserve Subsidies — Just Ask Paul Ryan

April 22, 2011

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by Kirsten Korosec (BNET) ...How can maintaining subsidies for the fossil fuels industry, while cutting incentives and funding for cleaner sources, be called anything but corporate welfare?
Ironically, one of the stated primary goals of the GOP budget crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan is to end corporate welfare with four major proposals to target financial reform; privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; restructure farm programs and restore competition and exploration in the energy sector.
This sounds good. That is, until, you take a closer look and realize the budget does the exact opposite. Ryan’s plan doesn’t take a long term view on growth or global competitiveness. Instead, it maintains wasteful subsidies for Big Oil and guts investments in clean energy.
...Maintain a loophole in a 1990s oil-and-gas law that the Government Accountability Office estimates could deprive the treasury of $53 billion in lost royalties. READ MORE and MORE (Grist) and MORE (Government Accountability Office)
From GAO Report:

Ensuring the accurate collection of royalties. GAO and others have found many material weaknesses in their numerous evaluations of federal oil and gas management and revenue collection processes. These weaknesses place an unknown but significant proportion of royalties and other oil and

gas revenues at risk and raise questions about whether Interior is collecting an appropriate amount of revenue for the rights to explore for, develop, and produce oil and gas from federal lands and waters.