FOSSIL FUELS’ BIG ADVANTAGE

Fossil-Fuel Subsidies May Rise to $660 Billion, IEA Says
Tara Patel and Catherine Airlie (w/Rob Verdonck and Alessandro Vitelli), October 4, 2011 (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

"Fossil-fuel subsidies may rise to $660 billion in 2020 from $409 billion in 2010, according to the International Energy Agency.

"The biggest payers of subsidies are energy producers Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia, the IEA and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said today at a presentation of a joint study. The report recommends changing the subsidies to curb government spending and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions…"

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"The poorest 20 percent of the population got 8 percent of the $409 billion last year…More than 1 billion people in the world have no access to power and these subsidies aren’t getting to them [and are going to the middle and upper classes]…

"The support compares with $57 billion in 2009 for renewable sources, including wind turbines, wave machines and solar panels, rising to $110 billion in 2015, according to IEA figures published last year. Higher subsidies for fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide may undermine efforts to deal with climate change…"