Presentation at a meeting sponsored by the Energy Research Institute of China's National Development and Reform Commission and the World Bank in Beijing, China. The presentation reviews existing estimates of global subsidies to energy, including their magnitude, differences in estimation methods…
The IEA is producing two detailed assessments on nuclear energy in the coming months. The first, a chapter in their vaunted World Energy Outlook, will examine in detail the prospects and challenges to nuclear energy going forward. The second, produced jointly with NEA, will update their Technology…
A number of disincentives to recycling have been frequently, especially in analyses sponsored by EPA in the late 1970's, as impeding the expansion of materials recovery. The most commonly cited examples include the tax code, federal subsidies for natural resource development, trade policies and…
Complex security, environmental, and economic trade-offs remain the norm for the energy sector. Government intervention is also the norm, and too often involves a torrent of energy plans, white-papers, and legislation. In an ideal world, government policies should work in tandem with market…
Complex security, environmental, and economic trade-offs remain the norm for the energy sector. Government intervention is also the norm, and too often involves a torrent of energy plans, white-papers, and legislation. In an ideal world, government policies should work in tandem with market…
Large natural gas finds off the coast of Israel create significant financial and energy challenges for a State long focused on high technology exports and alternative energy development. To address these concerns, Israel has already implemented study commissions and proposed a Sovereign Wealth Fund…
Keynote presentation at the Expert Workshop on Subsidies to Fossil Fuels and Climate Mitigation Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), held at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC on January 14, 2014. Slides review recent global estimates of fossil fuel subsidies…
Special legislative provisions have allowed a select group of industries to operate as tax-favored publicly-traded partnerships (PTPs) more than 25 years after Congress stripped eligibility for most sectors of the economy. These firms, organized as Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs), are heavily…
Doug Koplow (Earth Track) and Max Chang (Synapse Energy Economics)
Posted on:
1/31/2013
Hundreds of documents released from DOE under a Freedom of Information Request and subsequent litigation shed new light onto DOE's management of an $8.33 billion loan guarantee on offer to support the construction of two new nuclear units at the Vogtle reactor in Georgia. The documents raise…
As a researcher, and a as co-director of watchdog group that have both worked to draw attention to the significant subsidies and tax breaks that are lavished on the fossil fuel industry, we are eager to see elected officials take notice of this waste of taxpayer money, especially as the…
Presentation at the 124th Annual Meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners for a panel entitled "How Should Subsidies be Crafted to Ensure Usefulness as an Effective Tool to Achieve Energy Policy Objectives." The presentation discussed the range of energy subsidies…
Although data on fossil fuel subsidies around the world have been growing, most of this information focuses on national level policies. The thousands of subsidies at the state, provincial or local levels are largely untracked -- with little visibility either in the United States or in most other…
Despite a stated commitment to using market forces, the Romney campaign is turning a blind eye to large and distortionary subsidies to conventional fuels. This review highlights problems with how Romney has framed the energy subsidy problem and highlights important subsidies to fossil fuels that he…
Webinar slides prepared for the Vote Solar Initiative to provide an overview of fossil fuel subsidies. The presentation discusses the informational gaps that often plague numbers on fossil fuel subsidies reported in the press, and provides a number of frameworks and tools to help Vote Solar members…
Table summarizing the ways G20 member countries have defined reportable subsidies to fossil fuels, and the gaps these definitions open up to missing entire classes of government support to the fossil fuels sector. The table has been extracted from Phasing Out Fossil-Fuel Subsidies in the G20: A…
In this, our second review of progress in meeting this phase out commitment (an earlier review was published in November 2010), we reviewed formal submittals by member countries to the G20 and the WTO, reached out individually to staff from each member country, and reviewed third-party assessments…
For the past decade imports of tar sands crude oil or bitumen have been increasing. Tar sands is stripmined and drilled in an energy‐and water‐intensive process from under the Boreal forests and wetlands of Alberta. In the process, Canada is destroying critical habitat while releasing three times…
Earth Track review of data from the Louisiana State Bond Commission
Posted on:
3/26/2012
The ability to issue tax-exempt Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds ended in 2011. Because the interest on the bonds is not taxed, the interest rates paid on these bonds is lower than would otherwise be the case. This tabulation provides a full summary of the applications and issuance of bond capacity…
The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline project, like all oil industry projects, benefits from substantial taxpayer subsidies. Some, like reduced property taxes, are directed at the pipeline itself. Others increase the viability of the pipeline by reducing the cost of the oil going into it, or the cost…
Despite surging prices for energy and other commodities, the vast majority of materials generated in the United States continues to be thrown away in landfills or burned in incinerators. This Webinar, prepared for the Product Stewardship Institute in Boston, provides an overview of the importance…
