How Much Does the United States Subsidize Energy

The government spends billions of dollars to support the energy industry, which allows it to make energy cheaper than it should cost on the open market. These subsides - either in the form of tax breks or direct funding - favor some types of energy over others, giving our country a skewed sense of what each gallon of gas or wind-powered electron costs. This is a look at where the government directed its subsidy dollars from 2002 to 2008.