Fossil fuel companies receive $31 billion in U.S. subsidies per year | Fossil fuels

According to a new analysis, the U.S. is currently subsidizing nearly $31 billion in the fossil fuel industry.

The figure is calculated by the Environmental Activity Group International Oil Change Group, Doubled The organization said it has been since 2017. This is likely an understatement due to the difficulty in quantifying financial gains supported by certain governments and the lack of reliable data from transparency and government sources.

The new report says these handouts pose a huge obstacle to decarbonization, a new report that experts have long warned about is urgently needed to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.

“These subsidies allow new production to not have happened,” said Collin Rees, a program manager for Petroleum Change International and lead author of the new analysis. “They also have to line the pockets of shareholders, investors and fossil fuel executives to a large extent.”

For analysis, use the definition of fossil fuel subsidies established by the World Trade Organization, international total tax relief, acquisition of land and other resources, interest rates for direct appropriation, direct appropriation, and other financial support.

The authors found that subsidies in the United States allow the industry to earn a 30,000% return on investment.

The Guardian contacts the American Petroleum Institute of the American Fossil Fuel Lobbying Group.

One of the biggest subsidies the U.S. has provided for oil companies is a federal tax rule that allows companies to pay taxes and royalties to foreign governments on domestic tax bills paid to foreign governments to avoid taxation twice, the report found.

Another major support measure is Tax credits for capturing carbonusually structured as a climate solution, but is primarily used to extract hard-to-reach reserves in a practice called enhanced oil recovery.

Under pressure from campaigners and the United Nations Climate expertat least 53 countries reformed their fossil fuel subsidies between 2015 and 2020, Global subsidy program under Swiss research team.

In 2021, Joe Biden also vows to start Eliminate subsidies Used for planetary heating energy.

“Unlike the previous administration, I don’t think the federal government should impose alms on big oil,” Beden said after the inauguration in 2021.

The new report finds that the United States is moving in the wrong direction on the issue: Trump’s signature tax and spending bill signed in July is expected to hand over an additional $4 billion a year to fossil fuel companies over the next decade.

Among the biggest support of the large oil industry, the credit limit of carbon capture has expanded and reduced Replaced royalties For coal, oil and gas are produced on public land. Rees said these enhanced support could eventually be more valuable to the oil industry in the next few years.

Another provision in the bill, Which oil companies lobbythese companies could be allowed to avoid the minimum corporate tax that Biden has established during his presidency.

The report said that redirecting all US fossil fuel subsidies to the society could greatly improve the lives of ordinary Americans, for example, providing SNAP benefits to three million families each year, helping 54 million families install solar panels within a decade, or sending 3 million children to early learning programs.

Although the U.S. government’s support for fossil fuels is profound and complex, they have a huge impact on the country’s relationship with polluting energy companies, Rees said.

“We are dealing with the technical legislative language and components of the tax law, but despite this, I think it’s important to understand that subsidies are political statements,” he said. “They are political choices we choose to support as a country.”