Socialist oil companies

Economists Wrongly Accused of Ignoring Climate Change

After all, if the idea is that we need to reduce the gap between social and private costs, the elimination of subsidies that reduce private costs will have the same effect as pollution taxes. Consider the case of fossil fuel subsidies. Roughly a quarter of the world’s oil consumption is indirectly subsidized through price controls. Governments across the world price oil and gas below the international market price. This pushes consumption above the market equilibrium. These governments make up the difference via the revenues from general taxation. These are subsidies to consumption. They reduce the private cost of gasoline thus widening the gap with the social cost. These governments basically subsidize pollution.

What if these subsidies were removed? Simulations by some economists suggest that eliminating them would reduce greenhouse gases by 10% by 2050. Another group of economists suggest that if the subsidies had not existed, greenhouse gases emissions would be 36% below what is observed. This is not a negligible reduction from eliminating a single set of policies. Moreover, these subsidies have existed for decades now. This means that for decades, they allowed for the accumulation of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. If they had never existed, the growth of emissions would have been inferior for decades which entails that the efforts left to accomplish to mitigate climate change would be minimal.

It is not just welfare subsidies, but the side effects.

The huge global warming wars and equipment we need to defend ourselves when idiot repubs make oil deals in the middle east.   But the geeks got back at the repubs, the geeks invented low cost drones which mean repubs are having to come up with 4 trillion in wasted defense spending.  It is determined that almost no one, repub or otherwise, has any plans to cover the losses of a useless air force and navy, unable to defense itself. And that sounds like the repubs have bankrupted Congress, just do not tell AOC, she will demand an MMT..