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That's not true, there are no subsidies for fossil fuels in Europe, just massive taxes, starting with 60% tax on fuels. Solar is not being used by general popu

That's not true, there are no subsidies for fossil fuels in Europe, just massive taxes, starting with 60% tax on fuels. Solar is not being used by general population because installation costs are high, with battery even higher and then it is usable only during the summer and you need to be connected to the grid, because you would run out of energy during winter. Additionally you need space for solar installation, which is kind of hard to get when you are living in an apartment, as 50% of Europeans do.

freemint 4y ago
There very much is subsedies for fossil fuels in Europe. The German government subsidized Nord Stream 1&2 a lot. Source: https://foes.de/pdf/2019-03-EWG-Erdgassubventionen-FOES.pdf https://foes.de/pdf/2019-03-EWG-Erdgassubventionen-FOES.pdf I am not willing to find more examples. It was the first fossil fuel project that came to my mind and after minimal googling i found there was massive government support. However even just googling returns results which disprove your assertion https://odi.org/en/press/europe-providing-more-than-112-billion-a-year-in-fossil-fuel-subsidies-with-almost-half-benefiting-the-transport-sector-new-report/ https://odi.org/en/press/europe-providing-more-than-112-bill....
- Schroedingersat 4y ago
  You have to be careful with some of those analyses. They have a strong tendency to double count, and include things that wouldn't be taxed anyway because they're business expenses. Incredibly frustrating and undermines the point because it allows the shills to dismiss them out of hand and lump in the real subsidies.
pjc50 4y ago
They're not usually direct cash subsidies, but favourable capital tax treatment, e.g. https://news.sky.com/story/climate-change-uk-government-oil-and-gas-subsidies-hit-13-6bn-since-paris-agreement-campaigners-say-12477295 https://news.sky.com/story/climate-change-uk-government-oil-...
Schroedingersat 4y ago
The subsidies and tax breaks are endless. Subsidies on gas boilers, peying for upgrades and maintenance on electricity plants, subsidizing exploration, spending vast amounts to secure sources and prevent the countries who own it from making bp or shell pay fair value or fair wages, preferential land taxes etc etc. Cars paying for a small fraction of the infrastructure they use via fuel tax isn't the slam dunk you think it is. It's actually just another example of subsidy because much of the roads, and parking, and port facilities and pipelines are paid for by vat and income tax. With further communal resources being spent via space reserved on every private and commercial property for the benefit of cars such as setbacks and parking minimums. A tiny fraction of the public resources we have spent on fossil fuels, and later nuclear could have completed a green transition at any time in the last century.

freemint 4y ago

There very much is subsedies for fossil fuels in Europe. The German government subsidized Nord Stream 1&2 a lot. Source: https://foes.de/pdf/2019-03-EWG-Erdgassubventionen-FOES.pdf https://foes.de/pdf/2019-03-EWG-Erdgassubventionen-FOES.pdf I am not willing to find more examples. It was the first fossil fuel project that came to my mind and after minimal googling i found there was massive government support. However even just googling returns results which disprove your assertion https://odi.org/en/press/europe-providing-more-than-112-billion-a-year-in-fossil-fuel-subsidies-with-almost-half-benefiting-the-transport-sector-new-report/ https://odi.org/en/press/europe-providing-more-than-112-bill....

Schroedingersat 4y ago
You have to be careful with some of those analyses. They have a strong tendency to double count, and include things that wouldn't be taxed anyway because they're business expenses. Incredibly frustrating and undermines the point because it allows the shills to dismiss them out of hand and lump in the real subsidies.

pjc50 4y ago

They're not usually direct cash subsidies, but favourable capital tax treatment, e.g. https://news.sky.com/story/climate-change-uk-government-oil-and-gas-subsidies-hit-13-6bn-since-paris-agreement-campaigners-say-12477295 https://news.sky.com/story/climate-change-uk-government-oil-...

Schroedingersat 4y ago

The subsidies and tax breaks are endless. Subsidies on gas boilers, peying for upgrades and maintenance on electricity plants, subsidizing exploration, spending vast amounts to secure sources and prevent the countries who own it from making bp or shell pay fair value or fair wages, preferential land taxes etc etc. Cars paying for a small fraction of the infrastructure they use via fuel tax isn't the slam dunk you think it is. It's actually just another example of subsidy because much of the roads, and parking, and port facilities and pipelines are paid for by vat and income tax. With further communal resources being spent via space reserved on every private and commercial property for the benefit of cars such as setbacks and parking minimums. A tiny fraction of the public resources we have spent on fossil fuels, and later nuclear could have completed a green transition at any time in the last century.