The Companies
Table 1 shows the companies that benefited from four separate civilian and military federal energy subsidy programs - the Clean Coal Technology Program, the Fossil Fuel Research and Development Program, the National Ignition Facility, and the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative - along with the Political Action Committee (PAC) and soft money donations that each of these companies made to Congress from 1993 to 1999. All told, 126 companies donated a total of $39 million in that time.
Several companies appear in more than one category, which means that these companies benefit from more than one government subsidy program. Three companies benefited from three separate programs: Bechtel Group was a part of the Clean Coal Technology Program, the Fossil Fuel Research and Development Program, and the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative. Siemens Corporation and General Electric were both part of the Fossil Fuel Research and Development Program, the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative and the National Ignition Facility (NIF).
As Table 1 shows, some of the beneficiaries of the programs are multi-billion dollar corporations. For example, according to the Energy Information Administration, a division of the Department of Energy, the oil and gas industry had a combined net income of $29 billion in 1997, while the nuclear and coal industries each showed a $300 million net income for 1997 (1997 is the most recent year for which information is available). Over the course of seven years, the same time period for which this report examines both campaign contributions and estimated subsidies, the oil and gas industry had a net income of $133.8 billion, the coal industry's net income was $1.8 billion, and the commercial nuclear industry's net income was $1.2 billion. Clearly, these oil, coal and commercial nuclear power industries have the resources to conduct their own research, without receiving taxpayer handouts. In addition, the civilian energy research portion of NIF is wasteful, unnecessary and has been poorly managed. This program should be funded by the commercial energy industry. While this report takes no position on the national security portion of the program, both Taxpayers Common Sense and Friends of Earth believe it is unjustified.
Some of the largest and most profitable of the companies receiving subsidies were big oil companies like Chevron, ARCO, Texaco and Marathon Oil. These companies had profits of, respectively, $679 million, $478 million, $273 million and $253 million just in the first six months of 1999!
ARCO and Chevron, in addition to being two of the most profitable corporations to receive taxpayer handouts, also made the third and fourth highest campaign donations. ARCO donated a total of $3,637,746 in PAC and soft money from 1993 to 1999, while Chevron donated a total of $3,041,968 in that time. The company that poured the most money into congressional coffers was Union Pacific, with donations totaling $5,326,104 from 1993 to 1999, followed by General Electric, with donations totaling $3,726,735.
The Money Trail