Washington, D.C. — A new report from the Center for American Progress shows how fossil fuels have received direct federal tax subsidies at nearly three times the rate of renewable energy sources.
While renewable energy has received scrutiny from the Trump administration and congressional Republicans over subsidies, the administration’s narrative hides how fossil fuel industries reap the benefits of a distorted market that has made Americans pay more for polluting fossil fuel energy for decades.
The report finds that the cumulative amount oil, gas, and coal have received from the federal government in tax breaks since 1918 totals an estimated $549 billion, nearly three times higher than the $195 billion for solar and wind.
“The Trump administration has rallied behind expensive fossil industries and slashed support for solar, wind and other clean energy sources,” said Alia Hidayat, a senior policy analyst at CAP and co-author of the report. “This bad faith attack on relatively small clean energy subsidies is undermining affordable, rapid-to-deploy electricity at a time of record energy demand and rising costs for Americans.”
The report’s other key messages include:
- Taxpayer dollars are distorting the energy market. Wind and solar are the cheapest sources of electricity, yet tens of billions of dollars in federal subsidies for fossil fuels continue to tilt the playing field in favor of polluting oil and gas annually.
- Fossil fuel subsidies do not lower energy bills—they boost corporate profits. Federal policy has propped up expensive, polluting energy while blocking cheaper, cleaner alternatives.
- The federal leasing process is more complex, less predictable, and more costly for wind and solar developers than fossil fuel companies. Once production starts, solar developers pay twenty times as much in production fees as oil and gas companies.
- The Trump administration has weaponized the permitting process to slow renewable development: All federal solar and wind permits must be reviewed by the secretary of the interior, and federal wind permits remain paused after an executive order was issued early in 2025.
Read the report: “5 Hidden Ways the Government Rigs the Market in Favor of Fossil Fuels” by Alia Hidayat, Sophie Conroy, and Gianna Sala
For more information, or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].