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Oh that's not nearly the amount of fossil subsidies. Some say it's $31b/yr direct. If you factor in indirect costs like climate damage, health expenses, oil wa

• TheOtherHobbes 2mo ago
  Globally, fossil tax breaks and implicit subsidies are at least $6tn. The entire sector is a catastrophic, institutionally corrupt scam. https://www.imf.org/en/topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies https://www.imf.org/en/topics/climate-change/energy-subsidie...
• winter_blue 2mo ago
  It’s kind of amazing and horrifying at the same time that a democratic country like the U.S. is doing all these shenanigans like blocking clean zero carbon energy, while a communist authoritarian country is massively moving towards clean energy. Based on what our media and our education system teaches us, one would have assumed that common sense and sound logic would prevail in a democracy, but rather what we see is insane nonsense, paranoia, and misinformation (including about vaccines) prevail in the U.S., to the point of burning piles of money (including the 1.2B in this case) just to satisfy a childish and bully like need to spite and trigger the progressive side (like talking about causing more pollution with the goal of “owning the libs” or triggering “delicious liberal tears”). And we’re talking about massive negative externalities with increased pollution. This kind of childish bully behavior is as though you had a neighbor who cared about not littering in public and the streets being clean, and you just threw garbage on the streets to upset her. A ridiculous level of immaturity, truly. Meanwhile, we have totalitarian dictatorships (like the Emirates which has heavily moved toward zero carbon electricity sources like solar and nuclear) behaving far more logically, rationally, and soundly with a view towards the long-term rather than the short-term.
  • basilgohar 2mo ago
    It's almost like we've been sold a lie about good guys and bad guys, us vs them, and so on.
    • winter_blue 2mo ago
      I do think authoritarianism on its own is bad. I want the freedom to criticize my government, and I want the freedom to run for elections or to advocate for changes I want to see. I think democracy and logical long-term thinking shouldn't be mutually exclusive. I feel democracy and sensible behavior are two not connected things. You can have idiotic authoritarian governments that ruin the economy. China and Vietnam were exceptions among communist countries, who switched to a form of market economy, when they saw that central planning was poverty-inducing and nigh impossible to do. The problems we're seeing in democracies might lie with the level of disinformation for electioneering purposes that is permitted under free speech today.
    • dzhiurgis 2mo ago
      Oh please. You wouldn’t survive in the regime 15seconds.
      • TitaRusell 2mo ago
        As an atheist I wouldn't survive in Texas for 15 seconds lol. I think I'll stick to my little Euro socialist country where politicians don't swear on a bible.
        • parineum 2mo ago
          That's a funny thing to say about a place you've obviously not been for 15 seconds. Also, you can swear on whatever you want here. It's the person's choice. You could swear on a copy of hitchiker's guide to the galaxy if you wanted.
    • prmoustache 2mo ago
      It has always been about where you lived and not how the guys really were.
• WalterBright 2mo ago
  > Oh that's not nearly the amount of fossil subsidies. Consider the taxes on gasoline.
  • jsiepkes 2mo ago
    Since this is about energy; Power companies don't pay taxes on gas and diesel used in power plants.