ON FED SUPPORT TO OLD ENERGY

Time to Tackle Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Daniel Kammen, November 16, 2011 (Clean Edge)

"…[P]rogress has been slow to vanishing on reaching a meaningful deal on climate protection…but there is some hopeful talk of significant public sector and private sector funding for meaningful action on specific topics, including energy access for all, and advancing the business environment for clean energy…[M]any innovative industry partners and governments…have not only developed, but started practicing important renewable energy and energy-efficiency solutions.

"…[I]n many exciting meetings…the 'enabling environment' of clean energy versus fossil fuel costs comes to the forefront of the conversation…[T]he ways to support clean and sustainable energy come through loud and clear…[as do] calls to be more transparent and balanced in the energy markets. Several private sector companies (even those whose revenues are almost entirely from fossil fuels) and economic leaders from developing nations said that all markets would function better if we reduced the massive subsidies for fossil fuels."

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"…[C]reating the right climate to start and sustain these innovations depends not only on technological advances, but also on regulations and policy incentives. Many experts made a persuasive case for a price on carbon emissions as a strong incentive for positive change. In fact, most existing climate-related financing mechanisms are designed to mimic the effect that a price for carbon would have, and thereby reflect the true social, economic, and environmental costs of GHG emissions.

"Along with creating the right incentives is the challenge of reducing the wrong ones. Among these are many of the existing large subsidies for fossil fuel production and consumption…A Roadmap for Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Subsidies…can help policymakers pose key questions, quickly diagnose problems, and identify the right policy responses…A particularly important new approach is to find ways to build up more consistent support structures for feed-in tariffs (FITs) worldwide…"