by David Payton

Created on: November 19, 2007

United States Government energy source subsidies originally existed to encourage new or alternate technologies that had not reached a level of sustainable profitability. This general policy has evolved, in some cases, into a type of corporate welfare that assists entities with failing business strategies to remain solvent, assuming that industry's lobbyists are able to influence the appropriate politician. Additionally, the process has benefited polluters in a manner that would not hold polluters liable for cleanup if said cleanup would cause the company devastating financial losses (Energy Policy Act of 2005),thereby leaving the financial burden of the cleanup on the shoulders of the American taxpayer. Simply put, subsidies are vehicles for wealth transfer that should be stopped. Capitalism and the influence of free market systems will determine the viability of these ventures.

Corporate energy subsidies have done little to launch new energy technologies; however, subsidies have succeeded in mitigating the risk of investing private capital in new energy territories. Arguably, this has been a bright star in the universe of recent domestic energy policies. Industry stability is a necessary component of a fruitful economy, but it needn't be packaged so deceptively, and in the name of energy independence.

Obviously, the different faces of government subsidies appear strangely diverse, and affect different parts of the economy, budget, and population. But one fact remains: subsidies stifle the freedom of the marketplace, and in the United States, energy is developed, created, and sustained, in large part, by private corporations.

Government subsidies, whether they come in the form of grants, tax benefits, price controls, or trade restrictions are, in theory, designed to benefit the consumer (eventually). The monetary benefits are the direct result of revenue, generated by taxation. Taxes are collected from citizens, directly or indirectly, and should benefit the citizen at the end of the day either through a stable, productive economy, or as a benefit for those in the citizenry who, through no fault of their own, unable to properly meet the energy needs of their households. Until a sensible energy policy can be presented that benefits the country as a whole, instead of just the wants and desires of the lobbyists, then energy subsidies should be eliminated, if not drastically reduced. The United States was formed as a nation "by the people, for the people" instead of the modern morphism into a type of corporatism.

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