Energy subsidies put at $550bn a year

[Robbien]

The world economy spends more than $550bn (€460bn, £380bn) in energy subsidies a year, about 75 per cent more than previously thought, according to the first exhaustive study of the financial assistance devoted to oil, natural gas and coal consumption.

The study by the International Energy Agency, the western countries' oil watchdog, says phasing out subsidies over the medium term, as agreed last year by the Group of 20 leading industrial economies, would trigger vast savings in energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/055e6a5a-71cb-11df-8eec-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F055e6a5a-71cb-11df-8eec-00144feabdc0.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.energyboom.com%2Fpolicy%2Fsenate-proposal-end-35-billion-oil-gas-tax-breaks


So when Bernie Sanders proposed phasing out $35 Billion in oil subsidies, that is just the tip of the iceburg. Much much more money is given globally into supporting fossil fuels.

edit:
from
http://www.iea.org/files/energy_subsidies.pdf

The G-20 has highlighted that increasing the availability and transparency of energy subsidy data is an essential step in building momentum for global fossil fuel subsidy reform. As a contribution to the process, the IEA will be establishing an online database to allow the public to access data on fossil-fuel subsidies, including breakdowns by country, by fuel, and by year.

[AndyA]

1. Well, those poor oil companies barely make ends meet.

Their executives work for next to nothing. You don't see huge skyscrapers with oil company names plastered on them, or big office parks for oil companies. It costs so much more to get oil out of the ground now, why there's next to no profit in a gallon of gas!


The oil companies NEED those subsidies to survive, because America depends on oil. And if the oil companies can't make several BILLION in profit each month, why it's just not worth doing business. Not at all.

Pity the poor oil company and its executive. They get no respect, no respect at all.

:sarcasm: