energy subsidies
Newsletter
Credit: Zbynek Burival/Unsplash
Biden's battle against enduring fossil fuel tax breaks
President Biden aims to cut federal tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry, a move met with resistance.
In short:
- President Biden's latest budget proposal marks his fourth attempt to eliminate tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry, aiming to cut $35 billion in subsidies over the next decade.
- Despite widespread criticism of these subsidies as wasteful, efforts to remove them face opposition from the oil industry, certain Democrats, and Republicans.
- The fossil fuel industry benefits from nearly a dozen tax breaks, with two major ones dating back a century, significantly lowering production costs and boosting profits.
Key quote:
"Everybody agrees fossil fuel subsidies are wasteful, stupid and moving things in the wrong direction."
— Michael L. Ross, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles
Why this matters:
Fossil fuel subsidies, amounting to billions of dollars globally, lower the cost of coal, oil, and natural gas, encouraging increased consumption and production of these energy sources. This accelerates greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and the extreme weather events associated with climate change.
Proposed EPA methane limits may help curtail 7,500 yearly deaths from oil and gas production sites.
Keep reading...Show less
Daniel Cohan: Big new incentives for clean energy aren't enough
To put the $370 billion in subsidies to work, the US needs to build new infrastructure and manage a lot of regulatory hurdles.
Finance officials urge greater ambition to tackle climate change
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva emphasises need rid world of fossil fuel subsidies
Photo by WORKSITE Ltd. on Unsplash
Biden plan to end U.S. fossil fuel subsidies faces big challenges
President-elect Joe Biden's promise to end U.S. fossil fuel subsidies worth billions of dollars a year for drillers and miners could be hard to keep due to resistance from lawmakers in a narrowly divided Congress, including from within his own party.
www.nytimes.com
As energy prices tumble, developing countries trim subsidies
Trying to cut spending as the pandemic reduces tax revenue, governments are finding it easier to lift restraints on what consumers pay for fuel.
Why white households pay less for utilities
Not only are residents of minority neighborhoods paying more of their income for energy bills, but federal government housing policies are a huge part of the reason why.
ORIGINAL REPORTING
MOST POPULAR
CLIMATE
