Fossil Fuel Subsidies Cost $5 Trillion Annually

They keep telling us that alternatives to fossil energy are too expensive. That we shouldn’t be subsidizing the alternatives because it creates an uneven playing field. They tell us that the alternatives should compete on merit, just like the fossil energy industries do, and stop looking for government handouts. I think we should go the other way and subsidize the competition to the same level we already have been subsidizing the incumbent. With that kind of money, I foresee rapid advancements in new technology. – rjb

Global energy subsidies, including the social and environmental costs associated with heavily subsidized fossil fuels, are costing the world’s governments upward of $5 trillion annually, according to new estimates released yesterday by the International Monetary Fund.

Source: Fossil Fuel Subsidies Cost $5 Trillion Annually and Worsen Pollution – Scientific American