Day: July 2, 2025

The International Energy Agency reports that actual fossil fuel subsidies, the kind you can trace on a budget ledger, amount to roughly $500 to $700 billion per year. And most of that occurs in the developing world, where energy affordability is a matter of survival. These are countries like Venezuela, Iran, and Indonesia, where governments hold down domestic fuel prices to avoid unrest. … 

In the West — the U.S., Canada, and Europe — direct fossil fuel subsidies are small, targeted, and often phased out over time. In fact, most so-called subsidies in the U.S. are simply standard tax deductions applied to all industries, such as write-offs for equipment depreciation or manufacturing costs. … 

By contrast, the U.S. federal government has handed out over $70 billion in direct subsidies to renewables just through the Inflation Reduction Act. And when you compare subsidies per unit of electricity produced, solar received 205 times more than oil and gas between 2010 and 2019. .. 

The fossil fuel industry, despite powering over 80 percent of the global economy, receives less per unit of energy delivered than any other sector. … 

But in reality… it is green energy that has become dependent on subsidies. Not to compete, but to exist.