Washington, D.C. – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today urged both chambers of Congress to vote against the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (H.R. 6).  The conference report contains $14.5 billion in targeted tax breaks and incentives and authorizes more than $66 billion in federal spending.  President Bush originally requested a bill costing $6.7 billion. 

“The bill does not establish a coherent policy; it’s a mess, the kind of hodgepodge approach that breaks the bank and fails to produce results.”  CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “While the energy bill does not decrease dependence on foreign oil, it does increase dependence on federal handouts.”   

The 1700-page conference report is chock-full of corporate subsidies, targeted tax breaks, and other special interest handouts.  Among the provisions CCAGW finds most objectionable:

• $550 million for the Denali Commission.  Established to funnel federal economic development aid to Alaska, the commission’s only champion has been Senate Appropriations Committee member Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).  There has been $134.5 million in pork for the commission since 2000. 

• Title XIV:  Unlimited Loan Guarantees.   Title XIV will guarantee up to 80 percent of the cost of developing new energy technologies.  When such endeavors fail, taxpayers will cover the losses.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost at $3.75 billion in loan guarantees over the first five years, carrying a 20 to 60 percent risk of default on the loans.  But after five years, there is no limit on the amount of loans that can be guaranteed. 
• Ethanol mandate.  The requirement that 7.5 billion gallons of corn-derived ethanol be added to the domestic gasoline supply by 2012, double the current mandate, is nothing more than corporate welfare – bad for consumers and taxpayers but a boon to Midwestern farmers.  Producing a gallon of ethanol may require more energy than the ethanol actually contains; the result being that oil imports will fall by less than .05 percent.    
• Hydrogen car.  The conference bill allocates $1.92 billion over five years toward research related to hydrogen fuel cell technology, even though major auto makers are already developing hydrogen-powered vehicles. 
• Intermittent escalator study.  The energy bill instructs the federal government to study the advantages and disadvantages of using escalators that remain stationary until approached by passengers.    

“We don’t need a federal study on intermittent escalators.  When such products are technically and economically feasible, the market will provide them.  The federal government should not be picking winners and losers.  The free market is the best way to promote energy efficient products and services,” Schatz concluded.    

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.