Critics lambast increased federal funding for oil research

A spending bill signed into law by President Obama contains $571 million for fossil fuel research, drawing criticism for use of taxpayer dollars to fund research for the oil and natural-gas and coal industries.

The funding included in the so-called cromnibus bill, which funds the federal government during fiscal 2015, represents a 2 percent increase from the $562 million in fiscal 2014. Next fiscal year’s funding dwarfs the $347 million spent on oil and gas research and development in fiscal 2012 and the $495 million spent in fiscal 2013. Obama signed the bill into law last Tuesday.

“At a time when deficits are an enormous problem, Congress is spending even more subsidizing research on oil and gas,” said U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colorado, who offered an unsuccessful amendment to cut the funding.

“It’s ridiculous that just because of a powerful lobby and special interests,” Polis added, “that we’re using taxpayer money that we don’t have to engage in applied research that companies should be doing themselves.”

Oil companies and other organizations can apply for the funding. The Department of Energy, however, insists that most of the spending will fund clean coal research and that a smaller amount will fund oil and gas projects aimed at making extraction of the resources more sustainable.

Obama has sought to support innovation and development of clean-coal technologies while at the same time curbing emissions from older coal-fired power plants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year proposed to reduce carbon emissions from power plants by 30 percent below 2005 pollution levels by 2030.

Approximately $400 million will fund research and development for clean-coal technology, and $25 million will fund oil and natural-gas energy technologies, including projects that support sustainable unconventional oil and gas development. The rest of the money will fund plant equipment and environmental restoration.

Taxpayer money spent on such profitable fossil fuel industries has drawn criticism from interest groups such as Washington, D.C.,-based Taxpayers for Common Sense.

“It’s amazing that we continue to provide subsidies for an industry that should be standing on its own two feet,” said Ryan Alexander, president of the taxpayer advocacy group. “It’s disappointing to see that Congress continues to throw subsidies at a mature industry that’s profitable.”