Oil &
Gas News
Fossil
Fuel Subsidies
A
fossil fuel subsidy is any government action that lowers the cost of fossil
fuel energy production, raises the price received by energy producers or lowers
the price paid by energy consumers. There are a lot of activities under this
simple definition including tax breaks, giveaways, loans at favorable rates,
price controls, and purchase requirements.
According
to the Pembina Institute, the Canadian federal government gives $1.4 billion in
tax subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. (article)
According
to The Guardian, the Canadian federal and provincial governments give $3.3
billion in subsidies to fossil fuel producers. (article)
According
to The Narwhal, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) states Canada subsidized
the fossil fuel industry to the tune of almost $600 billion in 2015 –
approximately $1,650 per Canadian. (article)
In
a 2013 report the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pegged the world’s oil
subsidies and tax breaks at $480 billion in 2011. (Link to .pdf)
The
IMF report states: “Subsidies aggravate fiscal imbalances, crowd-out priority
public spending, and depress private investment, including in the energy
sector. Subsidies also distort resource allocation by encouraging excessive
energy consumption, artificially promoting capital-intensive industries,
reducing incentives for investment in renewable energy, and accelerating the
depletion of natural resources. Most subsidy benefits are captured by
higher-income households, reinforcing inequality. Even future generations are
affected through the damaging effects of increased energy consumption on global
warming.”
Currently
there are no oil
& gas energy alternatives that can compete commercially with the
relatively free availability of what is in the ground. However, investors
realize that oil and gas resources are finite, and that extracting fossil fuel
products are becoming more difficult, wasteful and destructive, so funds are
being invested in alternative energy sources such as wind,
solar,
and uranium-free nuclear.
Environmentalists point out that the large subsidies used to benefit the oil
and gas industry might be enough to help create a commercial alternative. They
ask why we continue to finance a progressively “dirty” energy industry when we
could be investing in “clean” renewable projects.
News
– Subsidies
|
Date
|
Source
|
Title
|
Comment
|
|
2020-01-30
|
CBC News
|
Unpaid
bills: Are rural Albertans growing tired of carrying the freight for
delinquents in the oilpatch?
|
Kyle Bakx
AO News – Alberta
|
|
2019-12-06
|
Forbes
Magazine
|
Yes,
Fossil Fuel Subsidies Are Real, Destructive And Protected By Lobbying
|
Wal van
Lierop
|
|
2019-11-25
|
Vancouversun.com
|
B.C.
subsidizes fossil fuels to tune of hundreds of millions annually, according
to study
|
Matt
Robinson
|
|
2019-11-19
|
CBC News
|
Trans
Mountain received $320M in government subsidies in 2019, report finds
|
Laura Kane
AO
Trans Mountain Pipeline News
|
|
2019-11-13
|
TheNarwhal.ca
|
B.C.
grants $1.2 billion in deep well subsidies to fracking companies in two
years: new report
|
Judith
Lavoie
|
|
2019-10-03
|
TheNarwhal.ca
|
Canada’s
fossil fuel subsidies amount to $1,650 per Canadian. It’s got to stop.
|
Erin Gray,
Calvin Sandborn and
Emilie Benoit,
Sydney Hamilton
|
|
2019-05-24
|
CBC Radio
|
Government
subsidies for business are greater than Canada’s entire defence budget
|
|
|
2019-05-08
|
RollingStone.com
|
Study:
U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending
|
Tim
Dickinson
|
|
2019-04-02
|
National
Observer
|
Canada's
environment department didn't think the Trans Mountain purchase was a fossil
fuel subsidy
|
Carl Meyer
|
|
2019-02-19
|
Financial
Post
|
Alberta
to spend $3.7B to get oil to prized Gulf coast market by rail
|
Geoffrey
Morgan
AO News – Alberta
|
|
2019-02-12
|
TheNarwhal.ca
|
Oil
and gas companies owe Albertans $20 million in unpaid land rents
|
Sharon J. Riley
|
|
2019-02-08
|
National
Observer
|
$2
billion oil industry subsidy in the making as Trans Mountain files toll application
|
Robyn Allan
AO
Trans Mountain Pipeline News
|
|
2019-02-14
|
National
Observer
|
'It’s
like pulling teeth': Catherine McKenna accused of stalling on fossil fuel subsidies
|
Carl Meyer
|
|
2018-12-18
|
National
Observer
|
Sohi
announces $1.6 billion to help Alberta oilpatch
|
Carl Meyer
AO News – Alberta
|
|
2018-07-03
|
Huffington
Post
|
Canada
Leads The G7 In Oil And Gas Subsidies: Report
|
Jessica
Chin
|
|
2018-06-15
|
National
Observer
|
Canada’s
billions in fossil fuel subsidies to go under the microscope
|
Mia
Rabson
|
|
2018-06-04
|
TheNarwhal.ca
|
Canada
leads G7 in oil and gas subsidies: new report
|
Sarah
Cox
|
|
2018-04-27
|
Edmonton
Journal
|
Government
earmarks $2 million for pro-pipeline advertising campaign
|
Emma
Graney
AO
News – Kinder Morgan
|
|
2017-10-26
|
TheGuardian.com
|
Revealed:
oil giants pay billions less tax in Canada than abroad
|
Martin
Lukacs
|
|
2017-03-01
|
CBC News NB
|
‘Mind-boggling':
Canaport LNG assessment slashed by nearly $202M after tax deal repealed
|
Robert
Jones
|
|
2016-12-12
|
CBC News NB
|
Property
tax concessions have cost N.B. nearly $380M over 40 years
|
Robert
Jones
AO News – New Brunswick
|
|
2016-11-15
|
TheGuardian.com
|
Canada
gives $3.3bn subsidies to fossil fuel producers despite climate pledge
|
Oliver
Milman
|
|
2016-11-15
|
Climate
Action Network
|
Fossil
fuel subsidies undermine carbon pricing in Canada, new study shows
|
|
|
2016-03-11
|
CorporateKnights.com
|
Externalities
- IMF finds Canadian fossil fuel subsidies topping $46 billion
|
|
|
2016-02-01
|
TheTyee.ca
|
Psst,
Trudeau: IMF Now Pegs Our Fossil Fuel Subsidies at $46 Billion
|
Mitchell
Anderson
|
|
2015-11-30
|
EcoWatch
/ DeSmogBlog
|
Prince
Charles: Governments Must Scrap Fossil Fuel Subsidies
|
Brendan
Montague and Kyla Mandel
|
|
2015-08-11
|
Theguardian.com
(UK)
|
Revealed:
Canadian government spent millions on secret tar sands advocacy
|
Martin
Lukacs
|
|
2015-05-19
|
Euobserver.com
|
Coal, oil, gas subsidies
higher than public health spending
|
UK
|
|
2015-05-13
|
Ring
of Fire Radio
|
Three
Oil Company Projects Cost Taxpayers Almost $2 Billion in Subsidies
|
USA
|
|
2014-12-17
|
CBC
|
Canadian
oilsands avoid dirty oil label after EU vote
|
The
Canadian Press
|
|
2014-12-02
|
Globe
and Mail
|
Green
energy sector jobs surpass total oil sands employment
|
Richard Blackwell
|
|
2014-11-11
|
EcoWatch
/ Oil Change International
|
The $88 Billion
Fossil Fuel Bailout for Oil, Gas and Coal Exploration
|
Andy Rowell
|
|
2014-10-30
|
Vancouver
Sun
|
Incentives
to oil, gas sector hit $1.25 billion: B.C. auditor general
|
Canadian Press
The Tyee
|
|
2014-08-30
|
Ecologist
|
Fracked
off – natural gas victims flee Colorado’s toxic air
|
Paul Thacker / Oil Change Int’l
|
|
2014-07-28
|
PriceOfOil.org
|
Subsidy Spotlight:
Paid to Pollute and Poison
|
Paul
Thacker, Oil Change Int’l
|
|
2014-07-09
|
EcoWatch
/ Oil Change International
|
Government
Subsidizes Fossil Fuel Industry With $20+ Billion in Taxpayer Money Each Year
|
Shakuntala
Makhijani
|
|
2014-05-09
|
Globe
and Mail
|
Canada’s
$207,000 oil sands ad: Putting a price on deception
|
Eric
Reguly
|
|
2014-04-26
|
CBC News
|
Corporate
Canada pays low taxes but contributes in “lots of other ways”
|
John
Chipman
|
|
2014-02-10
|
EcoWatch
/ Centre for American Progress
|
Despite
$93 Billion in Profits, Big Oil Demands Continued Tax Breaks
|
Daniel
J. Weiss and Miranda Peterson
|
|
2014-01-09
|
Toronto
Star
|
Ottawa
hires ad firm for $22 million oilsands campaign
|
Alex
Boutilier
|
|
2013-12-22
|
Calgary
Herald
|
Harper government
gave big oil and pipeline companies $400M to go green
|
Mike
De Souza
|
|
2013-11-05
|
EcoWatch
/ Brandon Baker
|
World’s
Richest Countries Spent $500 Billion on Fossil Fuel Subsidies
|
Brandon
Baker
|
|
2013-04-17
|
Toronto
Sustainability (Blog)
|
Fossil
Fuel Subsidies Nearly $800 per Canadian, says the IMF
|
Derek
Wong
|
|
2013-01-28
|
International
Monetary Fund
|
Energy Subsidy
Reform: Lessons and Implications (.pdf)
|
IMF
pegs Canada’s oil subsidies and tax breaks at $34 billion/year
|
|
2013-01-07
|
Globe
and Mail
|
How
big is Canada’s oil subsidy to the U.S.?
|
Jeff
Rubin
|
|
2013
|
David
Suzuki Foundation
|
Petition: Tell Prime Minister
Harper to stop giving handouts to oil companies
|
|
|
2011-02-25
|
Rabble.ca
|
It's
time to end Canada's billion-dollar handout to big oil and coal
|
Cheryl
McNamara
|
|
2010-11-03
|
CTV News
|
Canada’s
oilpatch subsidies said to total $2.8B
|
The
Canadian Press
|
|
2010-06-10
|
National
Post (Blog)
|
Oil
isn’t subsidized
|
Jack
M. Mintz
|
|
2006-06-14
|
Pembina
Institute
|
Canada defends billions in
taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas industry
|
|
Other
Information:
- Fossil Fuel Subsidies in the
U.S. (Oil Change International)
eturn to AWARE-Ontario.ca
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Disclaimer: This information has been compiled
through private amateur research for the purpose of allowing the reader to make
an informed and educated decision. However, while the information is believed
to be reliable, accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
APPENDICES
https://awareontario.nfshost.com/AWARE-Ontario/Issues/Oilgas_Other/News%20Oil_Gas%20Subsidies.htm
APPENDIX B
Other Subsidies