Energy Policy Now
For decades, energy policy was heavily influenced by corporate special interests who lobbied to maintain lucrative monopoly control over our energy systems. The oil, coal and nuclear industries seek to retain centralized control over energy production – their lobbying over the decades has resulted in three-quarters of all federal incentives flowing to them instead of to renewables and energy efficiency. Corporate influence over energy policy reached its peak during the Bush Administration, where Vice-President Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force relied exclusively on the input of energy company CEOs and their lobbyists to set the nation’s energy policy (Public Citizen lawyers unsuccessfully argued the case before the Supreme Court to force Cheney to divulge details of his communications with these CEOs).
Energy legislation enacted under the Bush Administration in 2005 and 2007 provided billions of dollars to already wealthy oil, nuclear and coal companies, while doing little to advance deployment of clean energy technology or strengthen energy efficiency standards.
Public Citizen seeks a new direction that prioritizes consumer-owned, locally-controlled renewable energy (such as rooftop solar) and a focus on energy efficiency – financed in part by completely repealing all subsidies for the oil, coal and nuclear industries.
Explore the Path to Current US Energy Policy
Learn more about the Energy Policy Act of 2005
Learn more about the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
Explore Public Citizen's Work on Climate Change