Energy Bill may become too costly

The Federal Energy Bill is becoming so overburdened with tax breaks that it may collapse under its own largesse:

The growing price tag of tax breaks to oil, gas, nuclear, coal and other energy producers in a new House energy bill is raising concerns among White House officials and some conservatives, who say the costly subsidies aren't needed at a time of sky-high energy prices.

Republican leaders had promised a slimmer version of the energy bill the House has passed the last few years to avoid worsening the federal deficit. But a new analysis by a watchdog group showed that lawmakers added $35 billion in the last three weeks since the bill was introduced -- a total of $88.9 billion in subsidies to industry over 10 years in the bill.

Analysts said the extra spending was tacked on to win over wavering lawmakers or to placate parts of the energy industry. The House is scheduled to begin debating the bill today.

"It becomes a lot less about a national energy policy and more about a strategic divvying up of regional perks to secure not just enough votes to win, but to win by a landslide," said Keith Ashdown, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that analyzed the bill's costs.