Cashing in on All of the Above: U.S. Fossil Fuel Production Subsidies under Obama
Oil Change International
July 2014
A new report by Oil Change International, Cashing in on All of the Above: U.S. Fossil Fuel Production Subsidies under Obama, demonstrates the huge and growing amount of subsidies going to the fossil fuel industry in the U.S. every year. In 2013, the U.S. federal and state governments gave away $21.6 billion in subsidies for oil, gas, and coal exploration and production.
The value of fossil fuel exploration and production subsidies from the federal government have increased by 45 percent since President Obama took office in 2009 – from $12.7 billion to a current total of $18.5 billion – a side effect of his Administration’s “All of the Above” energy policy that promotes the U.S. oil and gas boom and amounts to nothing less than climate denial. President Obama has repeatedly tried to repeal some of the most egregious of these subsidies, but these attempts have been blocked by a U.S. Congress that has been bought out by campaign finance and lobbying expenditures from the fossil fuel industry.
In addition to exploration and production subsidies to oil, gas, and coal companies, the U.S. government also provides billions of dollars of additional support to the fossil fuel industry to lower the cost of fossil fuels to consumers, finance fossil fuel projects overseas, and to protect U.S. oil interests abroad with the military. Finally, while the fossil fuel industry enjoys record profits, U.S, taxpayers will pay the bill for external health and environmental costs from local pollution and climate change impacts.
Download the full report here: https://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2014/07/OCI_US_FF_Subsidies_Final_Screen.pdf
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Stop Oil – Start Future ! !
I am damn mad and believe you me You (Republicans and teaparty members) will be damn sorry come 2016 when you are all voted out of office and brought up on charges of neglect, greed and abusing your power and the system of democracy. You are not doing your job and therefore will be fired thru the election process, or do you think you will take that away from us too?
Some of you may hate Obama, however, you need to figure it out: Most of us don’t and we ALL will retaliate against every single one of you. You all think you are hurting us because we elected Obama, well just wait and see who is hurt the most: United WE THE PEOPLE shall STAND!!
Billionaire, Anti-Democracy Koch Bros. own/Bribe/fund both GOP Governors & GOP Congress. Koch’s intent IS to take away individual Votes & they’ve Succeeded! November 2014 is TIME to Fire GOP, TeaParty aka Do NOTHING Congress! We MUST Rebuild MidfleClass & get rid of GOP Greed & Corruption!
Exon doesn’t hate America or our environment, they love money, above all else.
Your statement that Obama has seen an increase in subsidies for fossil fuel producers of 45%, since the beginning of his term in office, is misleading unless you carefully read the remainder of the text.
Try to get your headlines in line with reality.
Cheers, Old Buz
iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com
Good post. Both parties suffer from denial, and both are dangerous.
@Marcia Curry
Yes because greed and corruption are non-existent on the left… LOL
You libs are obsessed with the Koch brothers, yet what they are doing is exactly what democracy is… Freedom of speech!
What’s even more funny is that Koch Brothers are 58th on the heavy hitters donation list. Who takes the first top 10 slots? Liberal donators! HAHAHA derp
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
@Jon
Yes because greed and corruption are non-existent on the left…
Straw man. Nobody is saying that.
Let’s focus on the subject:
Taxpayer money is being used to support the fossil fuel industry more than ever under Obama, which means the president isn’t part of the left. He’s a Democrat, but being a Democrat and being on the left do not always equate. That’s why your “top ten liberal donors” falls apart as an argument.
For instance, the National Association of Realtors (#3 on your list) is hardly left wing, AT&T (#5) is an anti-union bully, and the criminally negligent Goldman Sachs (#7) should have its operations nationalized and its CEOs put in prison.
Also, it’s not how much money you have but what you do with it. The Koch brothers use theirs to infringe on our right to vote, buy politicians so they can pollute our land and our water, and promote legislation that prevents us from doing anything about it.
And if you insist money is the same as speech–as the corporatist majority of the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United case–then you don’t mind letting other people make your decisions for you to benefit them, and you don’t mind your vote not counting at all compared to the votes of the corporations and the “1%.” That’s freedom of speech for them, but not for you.
Voting against your own interests is your own business, but when your actions infringe on my own life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we have a problem.
@Sharyn Hanson: “all voted out of office and brought up on charges of neglect, greed and abusing your power and the system of democracy. You are not doing your job and therefore will be fired thru the election process, or do you think you will take that away from us too?”
They haven’t EVEN BEEN SEATED YET. Jesus, un-bunch the panties! How about you wait until they actually do something before you start blaming them for the fall of western civilization and sending them to the Hague.
Subsidies; for Oil & Gas in the US–NO! What are being referred to as subsidies are nothing more than BUSINESS expenses that are allowed to be deducted from REVENUES!! If you want to see subsidies, look at the solar & wind industries. Oil & GAS pay taxes! The majors are not even allowed Depletion. Apple, JCI, IBM, GE & others can deduct the cost of business expenses.
Good grief…
Premise of ‘subsidies’ extent is wanting. Looking to the cite’s AppdxI, shows primarily a list of business deductions, LIFO/FIFO, expenses, capital gains…which are not a subsidy per se, and is pretty much standard for IRS business handling. Specifically, businesses are taxed on net (not gross) and a depleted asset (O&G) gets treated as such. The list even has 3.9B for MLP status and 6B for road construction….what a stretch.