Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies?

A great deal of the environmental damage that was done during the Trump administration is either already repaired or is in the process of becoming so.  Many of these issues took a mere stroke of the pen (or click of the mouse) to accomplish, e.g., restoring the EPA’s web pages covering climate change and the use of science in policy-making to online status.

Yet it’s possible, in fact likely, that the Biden administration will go much further in terms of environmental responsibility than simply reversing the harm it inherited.

From this piece:

A coalition of more than 430 environmental organizations spanning 53 countries Thursday called on the Biden administration to quickly cut off all U.S. public financing for fossil fuel projects overseas and work with governments around the world to bring about an end to taxpayer subsidies for the dirty energy sources driving the global climate emergency.

“We urge the Biden administration to act swiftly to end new financing for all parts of the fossil fuel supply chain (including for gas), stop new U.S. fossil fuel support within 90 days across all government institutions, and work with other nations to end fossil fuel financing,” reads a letter (pdf) sent to top Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Removing subsidies for oil and gas will take more work and an executive order, as they are baked in to our laws and will require Congress to take action that may fly in the teeth of some of there people’s donors.  Yet decarbonizing our energy will remain difficult as long as fossil fuel prices remain artificially low.