New US Congress Likely to Take Hostile Stance on Energy Subsidies

摘要

Congress passed a "continuing resolution" last week to extend the federal government's operating budget through Mar. 4, 2011. The vote marked the effective end of the Democrats' domination of the budget process and over the next two years it will be far more difficult to win approval for energy subsidies. Lobbyists were unsuccessful in their 11th hour attempts to add billions of dollars in "earmarks" for nuclear power, clean coal and clean-energy subsidies. Meanwhile, the bipartisan support seen in the past for ethanol subsidies appears to be weakening too.