"You can’t say you’re committed to fighting climate change if you’re still funding oil & coal"

[ProfessionalLeftist]

The most recent comprehensive study of US energy subsidies (see graph below) identified $72.5 billion in federal subsidies for fossil fuels between 2002-2008, or just over $10 billion annually.

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The principle is simple and clear: You can’t really say you’re committed to the fight against climate change if you’re still funding oil and coal. Many global leaders including U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Sir Nicholas Stern, Al Gore, and John Browne (the former Chief Executive of BP) have all spoken out against the ongoing practice of subsidizing fossil fuels with public funds. Obama campaigned on the idea, and the administration has already proposed eliminating some domestic subsidies in the 2010 budget.

But the reality, is, as usual, stickier. Calls for subsidy removal tend to be answered by the oil industry and their allies with dire predictions of rising gas prices and consumer pain thus leading to unemployed politicians. This is because the poor oil industry couldn’t possibly have anything less than record profits, and they’ll continue to either use our tax money to do it, or they’ll jack up prices on us. In other businesses involving addiction, this is called a protection racket.

MORE...

http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-subsidies/