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https://theconversation.com/we-pay-billions-to-subsidise-australias-fossil-fuel-industry-this-makes-absolutely-no-economic-sense-189866>
"Fossil fuel subsidies from major economies including Australia reached close
to US$700 billion in 2021, almost doubling from 2020, according to new analysis
by the International Energy Agency and OECD.
These subsidies are expected to keep rising in 2022 as governments worldwide
attempt to use fossil fuel subsidies to shield customers from the high energy
prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Australia spends billions each year giving subsidies to the fossil fuel
industry, despite our climate change commitments. The Australia Institute
estimates that in the 2021-22 budget period, Australian federal and state
governments’ total fossil fuel subsidies cost A$11.6 billion. That’s up $1.3
billion on the previous year.
Subsidies play an important role in economies like Australia. By pushing the
prices of things down below the cost of producing them, subsidies make
everything from schools and hospitals to the ABC and childcare much cheaper and
more widely available than they would otherwise be.
But it makes absolutely no economic sense to provide subsidies to things that a
government is, or should be, trying to discourage."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
