To Paris with Love: Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies

France, International, Opinions, Policy

December 1, 2015

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Carol Werner (The Hill/Environmental and Energy Study Institute) Sometimes, a solution is so blindingly obvious it is hard to see. What if the United States and the rest of the industrialized world stopped subsidizing coal, oil and gas, and instead reassigned those funds to help poor countries transition from dirty fossil fuels to renewable energy? Doing so could help secure a badly needed deal to cut carbon emissions during international talks in Paris this December.

…

With limited resources, poor countries are struggling to make their countries resilient. They also need help to transition from cheap, dirty coal or diesel oil to clean renewable energy.

Developing countries rightfully insist that rich countries have a moral obligation to help them address climate change. Rich countries emitted copious amounts of greenhouse gases as they industrialized—it is estimated that the United States and Europe alone account for more than half of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since 1850. And now that poor countries are trying to follow in their footsteps, they are being told they cannot.

Giving developing countries a free pass is not an option

…

Rich countries need to step up to the plate. They’ve promised $100 billion a year in climate aid to developing countries, but are struggling to line up the money before Paris. Budgets are tight, and taxpayers are in no mood to contribute more. Fortunately, 452 billion dollars’ worth of annual spending—almost five times the promised amount—are just asking to be reallocated.

…

According to a just-released study by Oil Change International and the Overseas Development Institute, the 20 richest countries spend about $452 billion in direct aid, subsidies, and tax relief for fossil fuels. The United States, alone, is paying $20.49 billion a year in fossil fuel subsidies. That’s almost seventimes the $3 billion in climate aid promised by the Obama Administration for the U.N. Climate Fund.

We are, in effect, paying to be polluted. These subsidies don’t make economic sense: we should be penalizing fossil fuels because of their harmful effects, not subsidizing them. READ MORE

Advanced BioFuels USA