Last week the Senate gave a victory to Republican efforts to overhaul U.S. energy policy by approving a giant package of energy tax breaks and financial incentives as part of the JOBS bill. The lion's share goes to fossil fuels and nuclear with only a relative pittance for renewables and efficiency.

No one knows how expensive the package will be since the Joint Committee on Taxation has yet to release its cost analysis. Senators Domenici and Grassley say the bill will cost $14 billion, but that includes $5 billion in cost offsets that have already been counted in the transportation bill. Without that double-dipping, the cost of the energy package starts approaching $20 billion.

But the real price of this measure could be far greater. It would move us in a backward direction that will hurt America's energy security and economic strength. It would do this by further tilting an un-level playing field to favor the dinosaur energy sources of fossil fuels and nuclear.

The bulk of the tax package is a shameless gift to the most profitable corporations on the planet. Senator Larry Craig said the incentives were needed to convince industry "to get back into the business of producing." But corporations such as ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell raked in after-tax profits of $60 billion in 2003 alone. How much more incentive do they need?

One of the most disgusting gifts to industry is a first ever production tax credit for coal. Coal is the most polluting fuel (outside of nuclear) that we use. The US has the largest coal reserves in the world, but it would be a disaster if we were to develop and use all of them, because there is no such thing as "clean" coal. Not only is burning coal the major source of mercury pollution, it also dumps carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Senator John McCain called the energy subsidies a "shameless scam" to benefit the oil and gas industries and other energy interests, and attempted to strip the energy provision from the JOBS bill. Democrats joined Republicans in a 85-13 vote against McCain's amendment.

Yet the renewable energy incentives and energy efficiency credits are worth keeping and it's criminal that Republicans won't allow those pieces to be voted on separately. The 1.8 cents per kilowatt-hour production tax credit for wind power is crucial to that industry.

New wind power development in the US came to a near halt when the tax credit expired at the end of 2003. This is an industry that is chomping at the bit and only needs the smallest of helping hands to get up and gallop. Proof is in the decision made by the state of New Mexico, which signed an agreement to develop a wind power generating facility just days after the Senate vote. The JOBS bill has yet to pass the House, but last week's vote was a strong enough signal for New Mexico to take the risk on their wind project.

Some conservatives have criticized wind power and other renewables for needing government handouts to be viable and they claim that wind and solar should run under their own steam. But these critics either forget or ignore the massive subsidies given to conventional energy.

According to Navin Nayak of US PIRG, the fossil and nuclear industries got $66 billion of federal research and development money over the last 50 years while renewables and efficiency got $22 billion. Oil and gas industries sucked up additional billions in production tax credits during that time. Despite huge subsidies to nuclear, Nayak points out, the industry has not managed to build any new plants for the last 20 years. Continuing to subsidize the nuclear industry is like burning dollar bills for energy.

Of course the current energy subsidy package of $14 billion is only a tiny part of the total US energy policy, which must include the cost of the Iraq war. Daniel B. Caton, a professor of stronomy, put it quite nicely in a piece in the Charlotte Observer. He said: "Let's invest our billions of dollars into renewable energy development instead of wasting it on making Iraq our filling station."

Other countries, not having the option of colonizing Middle Eastern oil nations, are doing just that. The European Union has crafted a variety of incentives and targets for renewable energy. Some of them are in response to the Kyoto agreement, which is proving a valuable tool in jumpstarting renewable energy development.

Rep. Mark Udall is worried about America's long-term economic prospects. Lamenting the lack of serious U.S. efforts to develop renewable energy, he said last week: "I really fear that, as Americans, we're going to have our lunch taken away from us by our friends in the E.U."

Meanwhile, Greenpeace reports that China has the chance of becoming a world leader in the coming "energy revolution," largely due to the potential for wind energy. "I have a golden dream," Xu Dingming, the top official in charge of energy at China's National Development and Reform Commission, said. "Wind energy is clean, unselfish and powerful. I hope my dream comes true."

The JOBS bill containing the energy incentives still needs to pass the House. House Republicans are sure to try and add various poison pills like a liability waiver for the polluting gasoline additive MTBE. There will also be more attempts to pass the other half of the Republican's energy policy, which includes more rollbacks of environmental regulations. Those who have concerns about U.S. energy policy should let their views be known.