GigaOm has a post on energy subsidies that will help you get a perspective of where the USA government money has gone.

Bezdek’s 59-page report, which he did for the Nuclear Energy Institute last October, found $837 billion (in 2010 dollars) in incentives were expended over the past 60 years with oil, coal and natural gas getting 70 percent of that, or $594 billion. Oil alone was the big winner with $369 billion by itself while renewable energy, defined primarily as solar and wind, has received $74 billion, about what nuclear has received.

Reading this post will help you understand the above graphic of where 60 years and 837 billion dollars of incentives have gone.

Disclosure: I work for GigaOm Pro as an analyst.