US fossil fuel subsidies outweigh renewables
A study of energy subsidies by the Environmental Law Institute confirmed that the federal government provides substantially larger subsidies to fossil fuels than to renewables.
Fossil fuels benefited from approximately $72 billion (€49 billion) over the seven-year period studied from 2002 to 2008, while subsidies for renewable fuels totalled $29 billion.
More than half the subsidies for renewables were attributed to corn-based ethanol. The calculated subsidy for corn ethanol included a portion of federal farm programme payments attributed to corn used for ethanol. The combined biodiesel blenders credit and biodiesel excise credit for the same seven-year period total $182 million. Of the fossil fuel subsidies, $70.2 billion went to traditional sources such as coal and oil and $2.3 billion went to carbon capture and storage, which is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.
The US energy market is shaped by a number of national and state policies that encourage the use of traditional energy sources, the study noted. These policies range from royalty relief to the provision of tax incentives, direct payments, and other forms of support to the non-renewable energy industry.
Fossil fuels benefited from approximately $72 billion (€49 billion) over the seven-year period studied from 2002 to 2008, while subsidies for renewable fuels totalled $29 billion.
More than half the subsidies for renewables were attributed to corn-based ethanol. The calculated subsidy for corn ethanol included a portion of federal farm programme payments attributed to corn used for ethanol. The combined biodiesel blenders credit and biodiesel excise credit for the same seven-year period total $182 million. Of the fossil fuel subsidies, $70.2 billion went to traditional sources such as coal and oil and $2.3 billion went to carbon capture and storage, which is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.
The US energy market is shaped by a number of national and state policies that encourage the use of traditional energy sources, the study noted. These policies range from royalty relief to the provision of tax incentives, direct payments, and other forms of support to the non-renewable energy industry.
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