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.
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
The dome of the U.S. Capitol is seen behind the smoke stacks of the Capitol Power Plant, the only coal-burning power plant in Washington, D.C.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/REX/Shuttersto
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…
View original post 506 more words
The Most Revolutionary Act 
Interesting, but I don’t trust anything the IMF says. I don’t doubt the subsidies, but the numbers sound largely hypothetical. I would say the Department of Offense, for instance, is one of the largest subsidizers of fossil fuels, considering we are fighting so many wars over oil, and all those war toys depend on it. In a manner of speaking, we could combine the costs of fossil fuel subsidies and DOD spending for a more realistic figure of what this game costs taxpayers.
LikeLike
I take your point about the IMF, Katherine. But the one good thing about them is that they do leave a paper trail. Dickinson’s math makes sense to me. And I think it’s important to repeatedly remind people about the fossil fuel subsidies – they keep forgetting.
LikeLike