The early signs are that the new Congress wants our energy portfolio to emphasize sustainability more than previous legislators, and that is a step in the right direction.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says cutting the billions of dollars in subsidies paid to the oil and gas companies is at the top of her priority list, according to the Associated Press

At least some of the money -- revenue gained by rolling back some tax breaks -- will go to a program to support research into making ethanol from sources other than corn.

During the Clinton Administration the leases given to the oil companies for drilling off shore included subsidies that were supposed to stop if oil and gas prices reached a certain threshold, but the government somehow forgot to put this standard "escape clause" language into the contract. So although energy prices remain high, companies continue to cash checks valued at more than a billion dollars per year.

Taxpayers haven't been getting cheaper or more abundant fuel for their dollars. According to the New York Times (as quoted by Environmental Economics, the billions in oil giveaways have been a boon for the oil industry but a bust for consumers. The expanded drilling was supposed to keep increase the supply and keep prices low, but according to the analysis has only produced a trickle more (less than 1 percent) of oil.

The government should end this ridiculous giveaway and focus spending taxpayer dollars on research to create biodiesel and ethanol from agricultural waste or even from algae. While there is a valid debate about the effectiveness of spending money on corn-based ethanol, the argument for cellulosic ethanol (from plants and other residue) is more clear cut.