Resource Library of Subsidy Documents

Federal Environmental Agency. The policy of subsidising coal mining exists on borrowed time. Long-term subsidies for coal mining can be justified neither on economic nor on environmental grounds.

(In German; Summary in English). Stefan Lechtenböhmer, Kora Kristof, and Wolfgang Irrek. Wuppertal Institute. Detailed review of German subsidies to brown coal (lignite). Quantifies support at a minimum of 1 billion Euros in direct support and an additional 3.5 billion in externalities. Posted with…

Karl Storchmann. Beginning with the coal crisis of 1958, the survival of the German hard coal mining sector has been heavily dependent on subsidies for several decades.

Bettina Meyer. Environmentally Harmful Subsidies, Polish-German Seminar, Cracow, Poland, February 25-26, 2005. Data on German subsidies to the energy sector; discussion of barriers to subsidy reform.

Søren Dyck-Madsen, Danish Ecological Council. Assesses effects of shifting Danish tax base to resources and polluting behavior, with switchover fully implemented in 2010. Contains historical data on many Danish green fees.

Neil McIlveen for Natural Resources Canada and Finance Canada. Examines the impact of Canada's tax system on a range of energy investments and compares levels of support provided by the tax system to typical non-renewable energy, renewable energy, and energy efficiency projects. Finds largest tax…

Robert Mitchell, Brad Anderson, Marty Kaga, and Stephen Eliot, Alberta Department of Energy. Review of challenges in ensuring transparent and consistent royalty treatment for Alberta tar sand projects. Proposes standardized rate sheet to reduce bargaining power of developers.

(Report in Brief). (Full report can be emailed to you). Report of the Technical Committee of Business Taxation for the Canadian Department of Finance. Committee mandate to review taxes paid by Canadian business and recommend ways of improving the business tax system. Useful background on issues of…

Christine Elwell and Tyson Dyck. Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy. This paper explores the major government policy and legal strategies necessary to advance sustainable energy development, create jobs and protect the public interest in the newly opened electricity market in…

(Abstract). (Full report can be emailed to you). Department of Finance. This paper is a study of the federal tax treatment of the oil sands industry centered in Alberta.

Department of Finance. Advocates establishment of a common statutory rate of corporate income tax for all sectors, including consistent treatment of costs, both across resource projects and between the resource sector and other sectors of the economy to supposedly promote more efficient development…

David Martin for the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout. Historical review of Canadian nuclear program and the subsidies that made it possible.

(Appendices). Amy Taylor, Chris Severson-Baker, Mark Winfield, Dan Woynillowicz, May Griffiths, The Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development. Review of issues and trends associated with oil and gas development on state-owned land.

(Previous Years). Department of Finance, Canada. Source of information for the analysis of the Canadian tax system. Annual review of federal tax breaks that benefit (among others) the energy sector.

Amy Taylor, Matthew Bramley, and Mark Winfield, The Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development. This report, commissioned by the Climate Action Network Canada, identifies and quantifies federal government expenditure on Canada's oil and gas sector. It also investigates both federal and provincial…

Matthew Saunders and Karen Schneider. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. June 2000. Australia is only one case in this international overview of problems with subsidies. AUSTRALIA, CANADA, UNITED STATES, JAPAN, EUROPEAN UNION, FORMER SOVIET UNION, EASTERN EUROPE, CHINA…

Christopher Riedy, Institute for Sustainable Futures, January 2003. Overview of Australian subsidies includes fossil fuel production and consumption, electricity and road transportation subsidies.

Joe Loper, Alliance to Save Energy, Washington, DC. Despite old data, the methods remain extremely timely. This is perhaps they only detailed state-by-state assessment of net taxes on energy. Posted with permission of the Alliance to Save Energy. See original report cover.

By J. Andrew Hoerner, Center for a Sustainable Economy.

Tellus Institute. This primer describes the theory and options for Environmental Tax Shifting (ETS) in Massachusetts. By shifting the state tax base from income, savings, or labor to use of resources, pollution, and sprawl, revenue raising would discourage unattractive activities rather than work…