US Fossil Fuel Handouts Reach $34.8 Billion Under New Budget Law

The report, titled "Paying for Climate Chaos," highlights how the latest budget legislation provides an additional $4 billion in benefits to oil and gas companies. Specific allocations include $1.2 billion in reduced royalty rates for extraction on public lands, $720 million from delayed methane emission fees, and $359 million through expanded corporate tax exemptions for carbon capture and hydrogen storage technologies.

Since 2017, when federal subsidies totaled $20 billion, these financial incentives have expanded significantly. Researchers warn that without legislative intervention, the costs could balloon into hundreds of billions annually as new production-linked subsidies take hold. Collin Rees, the organization's US campaign manager, criticized these expenditures as particularly egregious given simultaneous funding cuts to essential social safety nets like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. The report calls for an immediate repeal of these measures and a broader dismantling of subsidy frameworks across agencies, including the Department of Energy and the Bureau of Land Management.