Friday, May 11, 2012

A Congressional Push to End All Fossil Fuel Subsidies | The Nation

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont speaks outside the US Capitol on May 10 to promote legislation to taxpayer support of dirty energy industries. Photo by George Zornick.
A Congressional Push to End All Fossil Fuel Subsidies | The Nation: "Over the next ten years, the oil, gas and coal industries are slated to receive $113 billion in taxpayer subsidies—that’s six times the rate at which clean energy initiatives are subsidized. Americans will fund everything from development research for the industry to loan guarantees. There are all kinds of absurd tax breaks—for example, since 1951 the coal industry has been allowed to treat income from coal mines as capital gains, which is now taxed at a 15 percent maximum, instead of as regular income like most other businesses in the country."