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The EU is not doing anything near enough against global warming.
by greensh 6mo ago
The EU is not doing anything near enough against global warming.
- mono442 6mo agoTheir policies are a grift to funnel money to the right people so that's not surprising.
- 9dev 6mo agoDo you have anything to support that claim? Carbon taxes are a theoretically effective mechanism to tilt the markets towards more sustainable means of production, that is something most economists agree on; alas, practically they are often thwarted by caving out exceptions or delays for short-term political gain.
- mcv 6mo agoAt the moment carbon is still getting subsidizes for 100 billion per year. I'd love it if they taxed it by that amount.
- mono442 6mo agoIf most economists agree on something, it probably isn't true. Just like every economist agreed that there would be no inflation in 2020.
- roenxi 6mo agoMmm. The language is not precise enough - if most economists agree on something it probably is true. If the corporate media gives the impression all economists agree on something, it is probably not true. Economists as a profession understand extremely well that they have no ability predict the economic future beyond what the futures markets say.
- sam_lowry_ 6mo agoYou probably mean carbon credits, from the EU Emissions Trading System. Wikipedia has a lengthy and well-balanced article on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Emissions_Trading_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Emissions_Tradi... It's an ugly and wasteful system set up instead of other, simpler measure that were politically unacceptable at the time, like higher VAT, excise duties on all fossil fuels across all industries without exception, including fuel oil for heating and aviation fuel.
- mcv 6mo agoThey really should end fuel subsidies. We're paying taxes to promote fuel use. That's a really bad use of our taxes. (Some are apparently already being phased out, but others are not, from what I understand, and they've gone up dramatically in the past couple of years.) As for digital rules, the EU should definitely stand firm and invest in its own tech sector, instead of caving to the US. Same with everything else where our standards are higher than theirs (food, human rights).
- mono442 6mo agoThere are no subsidies, gas and diesel are the most expensive in the world, and most of the cost is taxes. But apparently, for the EU politicians, that is still too cheap, so they want even more taxes on top of that.
- thfuran 6mo agohttps://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/fossil-fuel-subsidies https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/fossil-fuel...
- pjc50 6mo ago> Notably, more than 60% of all fossil fuel subsidies granted in 2023 were spent in three countries: Germany (EUR 41 billion), Poland (EUR 16 billion), and France (EUR 15 billion). This is another one of those cases where people say "Europe" when meaning something much more country specific. I can't find any detailed breakdown of this; I'm guessing it's something to do with coal mining in Germany? France has absolutely no excuse, though. Largest nuclear power generation in Europe and subsidizing fossil fuels? I bet it's something to do with farming.
- orwin 6mo agoYour bet is right, but it's based on a misunderstanding. Those are not real subsidies, those are tax exemption on farmers, fishermen, trucker and traveling nurses.
- mrighele 6mo agoThere is no point fighting against global warming if you're the only one doing it. If China, USA and India are not on the same page, the result will be that production will move even more to those countries, global warming will continue and European will just be poorer.
- greensh 6mo agoYou right. Market competition makes this situation a prisonors dilemna. Under capitalism this problem will persist.