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I ask this out of ignorance: How is coal heavily subsidized? Do you mean it's subsidized because they're not being charged for the emissions that they generate?
by fighterpilot 5y ago
I ask this out of ignorance: How is coal heavily subsidized? Do you mean it's subsidized because they're not being charged for the emissions that they generate?
- belval 5y agoThere are actual direct subsidies for fossil fuels in the US mostly as preferential tax treatment. The Wikipedia page has a nice breakdown: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_subsidy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_subsidy
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- belorn 5y agoDirect subsidies are from deductions made on taxes and direct government investment into modernizing the equipment on older coal power plants. One way they do this is Percentage Depletion. A mine take out 10% of the available coal, they can deduct 10% of the value of the mine, to the point where the total deductions can exceed capital costs. There is also deduction that came about because they wanted to promote domestic energy production and reduce dependence on foreign energy fuel, which between the year 2002-2010 awarded $12.2 billion in tax credit to coal alone.
- sacred_numbers 5y agoI think that the lack of pollution taxes is the main subsidy, but it should not be brushed aside just because it is not a direct payment. Coal emissions (not just CO2) are really, really bad and kill many thousands of people every year. Imagine if the main source of organ transplants was kidnapping young people and stealing their organs. Now imagine that the government knew who was doing the kidnapping and just let them do it because it allowed for an abundant supply of cheap organ replacements. Not to mention, all of the kidnappers would be out of a job if the government cracked down. Coal power was probably a net benefit in the beginning, but there are much better alternatives now.