A study published today, by a group led by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), indicates that eliminating fossil fuel subsidies could curb global greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 5% through 2030 while saving hundreds of billions of dollars in public money. Despite this seemingly good news, the framing of the study was strangely downbeat, casting these reductions as “only a small effect on CO2 emissions.” What we know from reading the actual findings of this study, as well as several other analyses of the climate impacts of fossil fuel subsidy removal, is that nixing oil, gas, and coal subsidies would be a big win for the climate, would saves money, and could free up resources to help the poorest and most vulnerable.
#StopFundingFossils
Toppling the Pillars
The World Bank’s pledge to end all upstream investment in the oil and gas sector by 2019 topples a key pillar holding up the social license around the fossil fuel industry.
NYC Announces Plan to Sue Big Oil & Divest from Fossil Fuels
“It’s time for Big Oil to take responsibility for the devastation they have wrought, that’s why New York City is making the unprecedented move to both sue and divest from fossil fuel companies.”
The World Bank just drove another nail in the coffin of oil and gas
The World Bank just shook the world of energy finance to its foundations. On December 12, at the One Planet Summit in Paris, the world’s most high-profile public bank said they would no longer finance oil and gas extraction after 2019. This move made headlines around the world, and it was the direct result of … Read More
Sign-on Letter: Oppose Expanding the 45Q Tax Credit for Oil, Gas and Coal Companies
Organizations from frontline communities – where Americans that are most impacted by climate change and the fossil fuel industry live – and organizations working in solidarity with them, are urging lawmakers to reject the FUTURE Act (S.1535) and the Carbon Capture Act (H.R.1379) – and to oppose its inclusion in a tax policy package.
Sign-on Letter: No Subsidies for Enhanced Oil Production
More than 30 environmental, public health, consumer, and climate groups delivered a letter to members of Congress in opposition to the FUTURE Act (S.1535) and Carbon Capture Act (H.R.3761) – and any attempts in a tax policy package to extend or expand subsidies for enhanced oil production.
Endgame
Acknowledging the obvious fact that our future cannot be fossil fueled begins the game that will only be truly won when our public policies, our laws, our governments, and our social norms fully incorporate this truth.
On his first diplomatic outing, climate-denying Rex Tillerson got trolled
In his first outing as Secretary of State, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson may have been quiet, but the world’s climate leaders were not. Ahead of the G20 meeting of foreign ministers, hosted by Germany in Bonn, German government officials didn’t mince words: “You can’t fight climate change by putting up barbed wire,” said Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, a not-so-thinly veiled swipe at Rex Tillerson and Donald Trump’s climate denial, and the Trump Administration’s racist immigration policies.
Infographic: Subsidies Propping Up Oil Profits & Polluting the Climate
Subsidies: Propping Up Oil Profits & Polluting the Climate Oil Change International & Sierra Club January 2017 DOWNLOAD INFOGRAPHIC Almost half of all oil production expected to come online in the United States is only economic if the public props up private investments with taxpayer handouts. The other half of oil production would happen even … Read More
Did Rick Perry help DAPL’s owners steal $6 Million from Texas taxpayers?
Did Rick Perry help Energy Transfer Partners – one of the owners of the Dakota Access Pipeline – cheat Texas taxpayers out of $6 million, or was he just asleep at the switch? Either way, can we really trust him to be in charge of nuclear security as Energy Secretary?