Dems: Energy Plan Is Industry Boondoggle

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 1 -- Democratic opponents of President Bush's energy plan say the energy industry stands to reap $52,200 in tax breaks and subsides for every one dollar it gave in political contributions.

The White House has proposed a national energy policy that calls for sharp increases in the nation's supplies of coal, oil and gas and a dramatic expansion of its production of electric and nuclear power.

Critics Cite 'Rate of Return'

The House is set to vote late today on Republican-crafted legislation that includes many major elements of the Bush proposal, including dozens of targeted tax credits and other government subsides worth more than $35 billion over the next decade.

Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, who opposes the administration's plans, released a report today detailing the "rate of return" on contributions made by the energy sector to political parties and campaigns last year.

Roughly 75 percent of those contributions were made to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, Washington-based research group, which provided much of the data cited in the report.

Source: Center for Responsive Politics. (ABCNEWS.com)

"[E]nergy interests that gave millions of dollars in campaign contributions during the last election cycle will receive billions of dollars in tax breaks," says the 12-page document, entitled "Hitting the Jackpot."

"If the campaign contributions are viewed as a form of 'investment' in the legislative process, the 'rate of return' on this investment is an astounding 52,200%," it says.

The coal mining industry, for example, made $3.8 million in political contributions, 88 percent of which went to the GOP, according to the Center.

The report says that the energy bill contains $3.3 billion in tax credits for coal-fired power generation and $2.5 billion in subsides for coal technology, for a total of $58 billion in direct monetary benefits to the coal industry.