A federal tax shift is really step 2
This entry was posted on 2/17/2008 10:51 PM and is filed under Energy subsidies,Elected representatives,Leadership.
Step 1 is
ending the majority of energy subsidies.
Some federally funded research and development is a good idea. Although, the selection process for technologies/energy sources to receive R&D funding should take external costs into account.
The problem with energy subsidies - they are exactly the OPPOSITE of what's needed. We need to begin paying the external costs of energy use at the time the energy is used. Subsides REDUCE the amount we pay to use energy WITH OUR OWN TAX DOLLARS. Dumb.
Here's information on how your tax dollars are propping up non-renewable energy industry profits and creating a huge barrier to a sustainable energy future.....including subsidies for Exxon Mobil -
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Subsidizing Big Oil (from the Union of Concerned Scientists)
This hidden system of oil subsidies has created an energy policy by default -- a policy that is actually the reverse of stated national priorities. Oil industry subsidies further our dangerous dependence on foreign oil supplies and burden taxpayers with unacceptable costs to human health, the environment, and the economy.
Government directly subsidizes oil consumption through preferential treatment in tax codes. A multitude of federal corporate income tax credits and deductions results in an effective income tax rate of 11% for the oil industry, compared to the non-oil industry average of 18%.
Oil Money Makes Messy Politics: ExxonMobil political donations and lobbying handouts (at Expose exxon.com)
In this type of situation it's the elected representatives I blame much more than the business. We can
turn oil companies into energy companies (from Solve4Biggies.com)
2007 Energy Bill (from Energy Justice Network) - excerpts:
One major victory so far is the removal of $50 billion/year subsidies for new nuclear reactors. However, this is now being promoted in other bills, so see the section below.....
ACTION: Cut out the billions in subsidies for building new coal gasification power plants and for the "carbon capture and storage research, development and demonstration program" which includes 7 large-volume carbon sequestration tests.
Nuclear Giveaways in the Energy Bill Conference Report (from Public Citizen) - excerpts:
- Construction subsidies = $3.25 billion + (including $2 billion in “risk insurance” to pay the industry for any delays in construction and operation licensing for 6 new reactors, including delays due to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or litigation; $1.25 billion from FY2006 to FY2015 and “such sums as are necessary” from FY2016 to FY2021 for a nuclear plant in Idaho to generate hydrogen fuel; and, unlimited taxpayer-backed loan guarantees for up to 80% of the cost of a project, including building new nuclear power plants. Authorizes “such sums as are necessary,” but if Congress were to appropriate funding for loan guarantees covering six nuclear reactors, this subsidy could potentially cost taxpayers approximately $6 billion (assuming a 50% default rate and construction cost per plant of $2.5 billion, as Congressional Budget Office has estimated)
- Operating subsidies = $5.7 billion +
- Shut-down subsidies = $1.3 billion
Nuclear subsidies (from Taxpayers for Common Sense) - excerpts:
There is a long tradition of providing massive subsidies for nuclear power in the U.S. Between 1948 and 1998, more than $66 billion was spent on nuclear energy research and subsidies.
Unable to produce nuclear power at a profit by themselves, plant operators have resorted to intensively lobbying members of Congress to preserve unjustified subsidies for the normal costs of doing business. Private investors stay away from nuclear power because production of nuclear-fired electricity costs at least four times as much as other conventional energy sources. Where private investors recognize a bad deal, the federal government continues to recklessly spend taxpayer dollars.
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It's time to stop this stupid subsidizing. It's an easy case to make. It's easy to think of lots of things to do with the dollars the federal government will save when these subsidies are stopped -- including giving the money back to taxpayers.
Which federally elected representative(s) are going to actually do it?
