Monopoly Utilities Neglect To Mention Billions In Fossil Fuel Subsidies (CleanTechnica)
Conveniently for utilities in the U.S., they never talk about the tens of billions of dollars in permanent subsidies they’ve received over the past century. These fossil fuel subsidies are entrenched in the tax code. For example, since the US began subsidizing energy, the average annual subsidy has been $4.86 billion for oil and gas and just $370 million for all renewable technologies (Source: “What Would Jefferson Do”).
One good example of these subsidies (there are many): Percentage depletion allows fossil fuel companies to take a substantial tax deduction (15% of gross revenue for oil and gas; 10% for coal) for using up reserves of natural resources. This costs the American taxpayer about $1 billion per year.
This graphic above from the
Environmental Law Institute summarizes the gap between fossil subsidies and solar subsidies well.
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