tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36028082.post1304171832565898214..comments2024-03-22T19:52:46.571+00:00Comments on SOCIALISM OR YOUR MONEY BACK: Another Promise from ObamaPoetry Coalshedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05514953133244910986noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36028082.post-42089038945005647342015-08-04T08:02:44.970+00:002015-08-04T08:02:44.970+00:00The IMF, published a global estimate – $5.3tn a ye...The IMF, published a global estimate – $5.3tn a year – of fossil fuel subsidies calculates that ending fossil fuel subsidies would slash global carbon emissions by 20%, a huge step towards taming global warming. The vast fossil fuel subsidies estimated by the IMF for 2015 include payments, tax breaks and cut-price fuel. But the largest part is the costs left unpaid by polluters and picked up by governments, including the heavy impacts of local air pollution and the floods, droughts and storms being driven by climate change.<br /><br />Subsidies for fossil fuels amount to $1,000 (£640) a year for every citizen living in the G20 group of the world’s leading economies, despite the group’s pledge in 2009 to phase out support for coal, oil and gas.<br /><br />The US gives $700bn a year in fossil fuel subsidies, equivalent to $2,180 for every American. President Barack Obama backed the phase out but has since overseen a steep rise in federal fossil fuel subsidies.<br /><br />Australia gives $1,260 per head in fossil fuel subsidies.<br /><br />The countries with the highest fossil fuel subsidies per person are the Middle Eastern oil states, with subsidies in Qatar amounting to $6,000 a year and those in Saudi Arabia $3,400. The UAE gives $3,000 a head, but announced on 22 July it was ending its $7bn-a-year petroleum subsidies.<br /><br />In contrast, Mexico, India and Indonesia, where per capita subsidies average $250<br /><br />The UK, which is cutting renewable energy subsidies, permits $41bn a year in fossil fuel subsidies, which is $635 per person.<br /><br />Ending the subsidies would also prevent 1.6m premature deaths from outdoor air pollution, a 50% cut.<br />ajohnstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09874891810770297962noreply@blogger.com