U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending, says International Monetary Fund Report

Study: U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending

The world would be richer and healthier if the full costs of fossil fuels were paid, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund

By Tim Dickinson | May 8, 2019

The United States has spent more subsidizing fossil fuels in recent years than it has on defense spending, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF found that direct and indirect subsidies for coal, oil and gas in the U.S. reached $649 billion in 2015. Pentagon spending that same year was $599 billion.

The study defines “subsidy” very broadly, as many economists do. It accounts for the “differences between actual consumer fuel prices and how much consumers would pay if prices fully reflected supply costs plus the taxes needed to reflect environmental costs” and other damage, including premature deaths from air pollution.

These subsidies are largely invisible to the public, and don’t appear in national budgets. But according the the IMF, the world spent $4.7 trillion — or 6.3 percent of global GDP — in 2015 to subsidize fossil fuel use, a figure it estimated rose to $5.2 trillion in 2017. China, which is heavily reliant on coal and has major air-pollution problems, was the largest subsidizer by far, at $1.4 trillion in 2015. But the U.S. ranked second in the world.

The human, environmental and economic toll of these subsidies is shocking to the conscience. The authors found that if fossil fuels had been fairly priced in 2015, global carbon emissions would have been slashed by 28 percent. Deaths from fossil fuel-linked air pollution would have dropped by nearly half.

Oil, gas and coal companies — and their stooges in public office — have long argued that making consumers pay for the full impacts of fossil fuel use would cripple the economy. The IMF experts call bs on this idea, revealing that the world would, in fact, be more prosperous. Eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels would have created global “net economic welfare gains” in 2015 of “more than $1.3 trillion, or 1.7 percent of global GDP,” the study found. (These net gains are “calculated as the benefits from reduced environmental damage and higher revenue minus the losses from consumers facing higher energy prices.”)

For the United States, the $649 billion in fossil fuel subsidies exceeded even the extravagant amount of money the country spent on defense. To offer a sense of scale, Pentagon spending accounted for 54 percent of the discretionary federal budget in 2015. In comparison to another important, but less well-funded part of the federal budget, fossil fuel subsidies were nearly 10 times what Congress spent on education. Broken down to an individual level, fossil fuel subsidies cost every man, woman and child in the United States $2,028 that year.

At the opening of the IMF’s spring meetings in April, Managing Director Christine Lagarde laid out the benefits she sees in properly pricing fossil fuels. “The numbers are quite staggering” she said, referring to the savings that could be achieved “fiscally, but also in terms of human life, if there had been the right price on carbon emission as of 2015.”

Lagarde continued to rattle off the benefits to humanity of realizing these savings. “There would be more public spending available to build hospitals, to build roads, to build schools and to support education and health for the people,” she said.

For Lagarde and the IMF, the conclusion was obvious: “We believe that removing fossil fuel subsidies is the right way to go.”

Link to the article at Rolling Stone here 

Free Film Showing: Story of the decline of the coal industry, the cost to people’s lives, and the need for a 'just transition' to a new energy future.

Special Showing of the New 

National Geographic Documentary Film 

FROM THE ASHES.

Thursday, June 22, 2017 at 7:00 PM,
North Presbyterian Church,
300 North Forest Rd., Williamsville, NY.

From The Ashes is a groundbreaking new documentary that goes beyond the rhetoric of the “War on Coal” to explore the energy transition emerging from the response to climate change. It is a compelling look at the lives and issues to include a heartbreaking look at stake for our economy, health and climate. 

Learn more about an industry on the edge and what it means for our future. WNY is a part of the coal story as witnessed locally in the closing of the NRG Huntley Plant and its impact on Tonawanda.

Please Join Us!

Free and Open to the Public ~ [Map]

The film will be followed by a discussion led by David Alicea, President of the Board of New York Interfaith Power and Light and organizer for the Sierra Club.

View the Film Trailer:

Sponsors: New York Interfaith Power and Light + North Presbyterian Church + Shir Shalom + Sierra Club + Western New York Environmental Alliance + Interfaith Climate Justice Community + WNY Land Conservancy + Climate Justice Coalition of WNY
 

Fossil Fuel Industry is in for Dramatic Changes

Did ExxonMobil Lie to Investors About Climate Change?
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is pursuing an investigation—one of many signs that momentum is on the side of climate-justice activists.

By Mark Hertsgaard | The Nation

The dawn of 2016 is not a happy time to be an executive in the fossil-fuel industry. Like Gulliver, who awakens to find his limbs and trunk tied down by the tiny but industrious Lilliputians, the industry is under assault on many fronts at once, and it’s not clear whether it can free itself.

Economically, the prices for oil, coal, and natural gas have been falling, even as production costs remain high. Industry stocks are tumbling, and small and large companies alike are going out of business. Arch Coal, one of the largest coal companies in the United States, declared bankruptcy on January 11. Outside investors are wary or fleeing. Many are embracing solar and wind energy, drawn by plummeting costs that have driven stratospheric growth and market penetration worldwide.

The political terrain is no more favorable. At the United Nations climate summit in Paris last December, virtually every nation on earth promised to all but eliminate the use of fossil fuels after 2050—to abandon oil, gas, and coal in favor of renewable energy. In the United States, one of the nation’s most powerful legal authorities, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, is investigating whether ExxonMobil, the industry’s alpha leader, committed fraud by lying to investors and the public for decades about climate change. Schneiderman’s investigation and the Paris Agreement in turn exemplify a third threat: an increasingly aroused civil society, spearheaded by a climate-justice movement that continues to grow in size, impact, and global reach.

The fossil-fuel industry remains an immensely rich and politically powerful enterprise, and volatility has been a theme throughout its history. This particular episode may yet prove to be a passing storm. Depressed oil prices can also discourage investment in renewable energy and conservation alternatives. But ExxonMobil, Peabody Energy, and their fossil-fuel brethren at home and abroad appear to be in a fight for their lives. And for the moment, at least, the momentum is against them.

On January 15, US Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced a three-year moratorium on new coal-mining leases on publicly owned land, as well as a comprehensive review of the “environmental and public health impacts” of coal mining. This ranks as perhaps the strongest climate action the Obama administration has taken to date; publicly owned coal in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin alone accounts for 10 percent of the country’s annual greenhouse-gas emissions.

The world’s other climate-change superpower did much the same, two weeks before Obama did. China will halt new coal-mine approvals for three years and close roughly 1,000 existing mines, the head of its National Energy Administration, Nur Bekri, announced on December 29. Together, China and the United States are responsible for about 60 percent of global coal consumption. Their rejection of coal is fresh evidence that the industry is “a dead man walkin’,” as Kevin Parker, former head of global-asset management at Deutsche Bank, first noted back in 2011.

Momentum begets momentum. Pressure from civil society—from grassroots activists, state and local government leaders, educational and faith institutions, and enlightened business and financial leaders—was essential to reaching the rhetorically ambitious though functionally nonbinding Paris Agreement. Now that accord is giving fresh ammunition to civil society’s efforts to keep most remaining fossil fuels in the ground, as scientists say is required to honor the Paris target of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.

“The Paris Agreement, which has the support of virtually every nation on earth, is a clear and undeniable sign that the fossil-fuel industry is about to experience dramatic changes,” Schneiderman told The Nation. “During this time of rapid transition in the energy economy, it’s crucial that fossil-fuel companies tell the truth to the public and customers about the impacts of climate change on their business.”

Telling the truth is not only crucial; it’s the law. American firms must regularly disclose to investors and the public all material risks that could affect corporate operations and profitability. That will be a challenging if not self-defeating exercise for fossil-fuel companies in the post-Paris era. Telling the truth about Paris only figures to further spook already-nervous investors.

TALK: Climate Change and Public Health - Alan Lockwood, MD

ADK Niagara Frontier Chapter 

presents

Alan Lockwood, MD

 speaking on

"Climate Change and Public Health"

WHEN: Tuesday, March 10th, 7:30pm – 9:00pm
WHERE: Amherst Community Church, 77 Washington Highway, Snyder  [Map]
NOTE: Please park in rear and enter through back door

Free and Open to the Public

Alan Lockwood is a retired MD and UB Professor Emeritus in the Neurology Dept. In addition to over 200 scientific publications including on environmental toxins, Alan authored a book about the health effects of the coal industry titled “The Silent Epidemic: Coal and Hidden Threat to Health”. Recognized as an  expert in his field, Alan has testified before Congress on the public health impacts of fossil fuel emissions.

According to Alan, “Climate Change is the greatest public health threat of this century.” Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will prevent hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks and reduce our national health care expenditures.

It is imperative for the general public to be informed about the dire impacts of burning fossil fuels, so they can pressure leaders and policy makers to shift to renewable sources of energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create policies to benefit the well-being of humans and the planet.

Alan lives in Buffalo, and is a graduate of Cornell University and its Medical College. He is also on the Board of Directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility, studying the public health impacts of pollution, climate change and nuclear proliferation. This Nobel Peace Prize-winning group works towards a healthier and safer world.

In addition, Alan is a Clean Air Ambassador with earthjustice.org, and is involved with court cases and policy decisions. Earth Justice’s slogan is: “Because the Earth Needs a Good Lawyer”.

For more information on the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club, click here.

Move Beyond Coal to Clean, Renewable Energy

WNY Sierra Club Beyond Coal
 Campaign Kick-Off Meeting
Wednesday January 29th, 7:00-8:00pm
RSVP HERE! 

Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo Alliance Room
695 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo

Dirty fuels like coal and gas put WNY families at risk. Not only do they pollute our air, but it also contributes to asthma and climate change. The great news is that WNY can be a leader in clean energy.  We're starting to use our historic manufacturing base as an example of what is possible in a clean energy future, but we can do a lot more.  All we need is for Gov. Cuomo to step up and be a hero for renewable energy.  You can help make that happen!

So please join us at our Kick-Off Meeting on Wednesday, January 29th at 7:00pm to learn more about the campaign and how you can help. With enough people involved, we can introduce new clean energy programs for the state of New York, making our transition from coal to clean energy possible!
RSVP here, and bring a friend!

Wendell Berry - Visionary, Author, Farmer, Activist

Introduction and Video from Moyers & Company.

 Wendell Berry, a quiet and humble man, has become an outspoken advocate for revolution. He urges immediate action as he mourns how America has turned its back on the land and rejected Jeffersonian principles of respect for the environment and sustainable agriculture. In a rare television interview (video, below), this visionary, author, and farmer discusses a sensible, but no-compromise plan to save the Earth.

Bill Moyers profiles Berry, a man of the land and one of America’s most influential writers. Berry's prolific career includes more than forty books of poetry, novels, short stories and essays. The interview was taped in Kentucky during a conference celebrating Wendell Berry’s life and ideas and marking the 35th anniversary of the publication of his landmark book, The Unsettling of America.

Berry lives and works on the Kentucky farm where his family has tilled the soil for 200 years. He’s a man of action as well as words. In 2011, he joined a four-day sit-in at the Kentucky governor’s office to protest mountaintop mining, a brutally destructive method of extracting coal.

Moyers explores Berry’s views on civil disobedience as well as his strong opposition to agribusiness and massive industrial farms. They also discuss Berry’s support for sustainable farming and the local food movement.

“My belief is that the world and our life in it are conditional gifts,” Berry tells Moyers. “We have the world to live in on the condition that we will take good care of it. And to take good care of it we have to know it. And to know it and to be willing to take care of it, we have to love it.”

Global Warming - Editorial Cartoons and Grim Reality

[Click Image to Enlarge]

And then there's this...

Bloomberg to discuss preparing NYC for warming world, as projections show growing effects

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, June 11

NEW YORK — The projections paint an unsettling picture of New York’s future: a city where by the 2050s, 800,000 people could be living in a flood zone that would cover a quarter of the land, and there could be as many 90-degree days as is now normal for Birmingham, Ala.

Facing those new projections of the effects of global warming on the nation’s biggest city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was scheduled to talk Tuesday about what to do about risks that Superstorm Sandy brought into stark relief.

“We have to look ahead and anticipate any and all future threats, not only from hurricanes and other coastal storms but also from droughts, heavy downpours and heat waves — many of which are likely to be longer and more intense in the years to come,” an excerpt from the mayor’s planned speech says.

Read more online at The Washington Post 

Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Energy Rose To Record High In 2012, IEA Reports
AP  |  By By KARL RITTER Posted: 06/10/2013

How Burning Coal Harms Human Health

Coal kills. That's the message of "The Silent Epidemic: Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health" by Alan H. Lockwood, MD, University at Buffalo emeritus professor of neurology.

Lockwood says "Coal is a major contributing factor to the top four causes of death in the U.S.: cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease and stroke, but I think people are completely unaware that pollution from coal is responsible for huge numbers of deaths." 

The book examines how coal is a factor in each of these diseases. Additional chapters examine the science, politics and economics of coal burning and global warming.

Dr. Lockwood discusses his new book in the brief video below:

Burning coal provides the energy to generate nearly half of the electricity in the nation. "The worst health effects of coal are felt by residents of states in the Northeastern U.S., east of the Mississippi, where most coal is burned and where the power plants are the oldest," says Lockwood.

Coal burning causes disease through two main mechanisms, Lockwood explains: through the inflammatory response that inhaled particulate matter triggers in the body and through the penetration into the brain of inhaled particulate matter. 

The press release from the University at Buffalo is here.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies: Let's End 'Polluter Welfare'

Politico 
By U.S. SEN. BERNIE SANDERS and U.S. REP. KEITH ELLISON

At a time when we have a more than $15 trillion national debt, U.S. taxpayers are set to give away roughly $110 billion to the oil, gas and coal industries over the next decade. We cannot afford it.

The five largest oil companies made more than $1 trillion in profits in the last decade, and in some cases paid no federal income taxes for part of that time. They certainly don’t need government handouts.

We need to end this corporate welfare in the form of massive subsidies and tax breaks to hugely profitable fossil fuel corporations. It is time for Congress to support the taxpayers’ interests instead of powerful special interests like the oil and coal industries. That’s why we introduced the End Polluter Welfare Act — which eliminates every subsidy to the oil, gas and coal industries.

The bill already has grass-roots support from across the political spectrum, including 350.org, Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense and many others.

Some of the same Republicans in Congress who advocate savage cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security consistently vote to preserve billions in tax breaks for Exxon Mobil, one of the most profitable corporations in U.S. history. While those members of Congress fight to continue fossil fuel subsidies worth tens of billions, they are working overtime to deny a one-year extension of key sustainable energy incentives for the emerging wind and solar industries.

Rather than pass strong legislation to help reverse global warming, Congress continues giveaways to the fossil fuel industry — even as its carbon pollution devastates our planet.

While there have been attempts to remove some of these fossil-fuel subsidies in the past, our bill is the most comprehensive. It would end all tax breaks, loopholes and federal research support for fossil fuels. It would make sure the industry pays its fair share by ensuring royalty collection for all drilling or mining on public land. We also end the loopholes that allow tar sands pipeline operators avoid paying clean-up tax.

It is important that the American people understand just how egregious these fossil fuel handouts are:

Fun Friday: Coal Humor

What if you could power an entire city for $100? In a world of ever changing climates, isn't nice to know that one thing stays the same? Coal -- cheap, abundant, clean...errrr cheap. [mobile link is here]

Clean Coal: More Expensive, Less Desirable

A 'clean coal' technology has been proposed that will provide power to generate electricity without emitting global warming pollution. The idea is that modified coal power plants would capture the polluting gas, carbon dioxide, pump it into open spaces underground, and store it there permanently. The technology has been promoted by coal mining and power companies, and has been supported by President Bush and the three presidential candidates. However, carbon dioxide capture, storage, and safety remain unproven, and the cost of building clean coal power plants is proving to be prohibitive.

The cost of the FutureGen clean coal project in Illinois rose from $1 Billion to $1.8 Billion, including $1 Billion in government subsidies. Fearing that the already high cost would further increase, the U.S. Energy Department canceled the FutureGen project. Another clean coal plant proposed in Edwardsport, Indiana would cost an estimated $2.35 Billion, a $365 Million increase from earlier estimates.

Here in the Buffalo area, an ailing economy and the need for new jobs are driving demands to build a clean-coal power plant in Tonawanda, NRG's proposed Huntley plant. The cost last year was estimated at $1.5 Billion. The current cost and status of the Huntley plant are not clear, and NY State is moving away from coal power to decrease pollution. Recently, in nearby Rochester, NY, a coal-fired power plant was shut down and converted to use natural gas, which generates less carbon dioxide than coal, and doesn't emit mercury pollution.

Coal's future looks bleak on Wall Street. Citigroup and Merrill Lynch have downgraded coal company stocks across the board. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America said lending for coal-fired power plants will be contingent on utilities demonstrating they would be economically viable under future federal rules on emissions. A federal tax on carbon dioxide emissions is inevitable. Together with the high cost of cleaning coal, the tax will make coal a more expensive and less desirable source of energy.

Fortunately, clean energy sources, like wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal, provide alternatives to burning coal. Clean energy sources do not emit carbon dioxide pollution, and are environmentally safe and renewable. Low-cost, reliable hydropower from Niagara Falls is attractive to manufacturing companies and is creating new jobs in Western NY. Wind turbine towers are sprouting up across the region. A national shift to clean energy sources will create millions of new jobs in construction, engineering, manufacturing and other areas, and will reduce global warming pollution. It will be a win-win situation for Americans and the planet.