Energy subsidies
From an interesting paper in Ecology and Society,Annual global energy subsidies currently total $200 billion (A. de Moor. 2002. The perversity of government subsidies for energy and water. Page 368 in J. P. Cinch, K. Schlegelmilch, R.-U. Sprenger, and U. Triebswetter, editors. Greening the budget: budgetary policies for environmental improvement. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK). OECD countries spend some $82 billion each year subsidizing energy production, mostly through tax breaks, cheap provision of public infrastructure and services, subsidized capital, and price support (OECD 1997). Globally, more than 80% of these subsidies are for the use of fossil fuels, among the most polluting energy sources.
And also,Economic activity is a consequence of humans striving to improve their well-being.
Well said. Brian Czech would have us instead believe that economic growth is imposed upon us by politicians.
Actually, the Nuclear industry is the most publically subsidized industry there is...as one example, just look at the Price Anderson Act that lets a nuclear reactor off the hook for any damages above $9 Billion dollars, and the fact that every insurance policy in American has a waiver for any damages caused by nuclear incidents.
ReplyDeleteIf you unravel DOE's Nuclear Power 2010 goals, it would see tax papers subdizing a new generation of reactors to the tune of as much as $7.5 trillion dollars.