While we need to leave fossil fuels in the ground,America is giving the fossil fuel industry billions to extract more
Imagine that instead of taxing cigarettes, America subsidized the tobacco industry in order to manufacture each pack of smokes cheaper.
A report from Oil Change International (OCI) investigated American energy industry subsidies and found that in 2015–2016, or the federal government provided $14.7bn per year to the oil,gas, and coal industries, and on top of $5.8bn of state-level incentives (globally,the figure is around $500bn). And the report only accounted for production subsides, excluding consumption subsidies (support to consumers to lower the cost of fossil fuel exhaust – another $14.5bn annually) as well as the costs of carbon and other fossil fuel pollutants.at current prices, and the production of nearly half of all U.
S. oil is not economically viable,except with federal and state subsidies.
In the 2015-2016 election cycle oil, gas, and coal companies spent $354 million in campaign contributions and lobbying and received $29.4 billion in federal subsidies in total over those same years - an 8200% return on investment.
Removing these highly inefficient [fossil fuel] subsidies – which waste billions of dollars propping up an industry incompatible with secure climate limits – should be the first priority of fiscally responsible climate,energy, and tax reform policies.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com