{"id":261506,"date":"2021-08-03T11:00:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T11:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=365534"},"modified":"2021-08-03T11:00:33","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T11:00:33","slug":"bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-includes-25-billion-in-potential-new-subsidies-for-fossil-fuels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/08\/03\/bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-includes-25-billion-in-potential-new-subsidies-for-fossil-fuels\/","title":{"rendered":"Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Includes $25 Billion in Potential New Subsidies for Fossil Fuels"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Senate\u2019s new<\/u>\u00a0bipartisan infrastructure bill is being sold as a down payment on addressing the climate crisis. But environmental advocates and academics are warning the proposed spending bill is full of new fossil fuel industry subsidies masked as climate solutions. The latest draft bill would make fossil fuel companies eligible for\u00a0at least $25 billion in new subsidies, according to an analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is billions upon billions of dollars in additional fossil fuel industry subsidies in addition to the $15 billion that we already hand out to this industry to support and fund this industry,\u201d said Jim Walsh, Food and Water Watch\u2019s senior policy analyst. Scientists say<\/a> that to meet the goals of the international Paris climate accord, the U.S would need to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 \u2014 and be well on the way there by 2030. With subsidies that keep fossil fuel industries going, Walsh said, \u201cWe will never be able to meet the Paris agreement if we fund these kind of programs.\u201d<\/p>\n Just as concerning is the new economy the subsidies could entrench, said Walsh, through the creation of new fossil fuel infrastructure. \u201cThis would support the development of four petrochemical hubs that would create profit incentives for greenhouse gas emission production and would be focused on finding new ways of integrating fossil fuels into our economy for transportation, energy, petrochemical development, and plastics.\u201d<\/p>\n In short, he added, \u201cThis deal envisions a world where we will use fossil fuels into perpetuity.\u201d<\/p>\n The subsidies would go toward technologies sold as dream fixes for ending the nightmare of the climate crisis without the colossal political hurdle of dislodging the fossil fuel industry from the U.S. economy. Such technologies include carbon capture and decarbonized hydrogen fuel. Both purported solutions in practice help fossil fuel companies mask the continued release of climate-warming gases. Neither of the technologies are currently commercially viable at a large scale, so the energy industry requires government help to carry out what critics see as a public relations scheme.<\/p>\n The bill includes\u00a0billions of dollars for carbon capture, utilization, and storage;\u00a0hydrogen fuel made from natural gas; and \u201clow emissions buses\u201d that could run on fuels including hydrogen and natural gas.\u00a0It also encourages subsidies that go unquantified in the legislation, for example urging states to waive property taxes for pipelines to transport captured carbon.<\/p>\n\u201cThis deal envisions a world where we will use fossil fuels into perpetuity.\u201d<\/blockquote>\n
Industry-Backed \u201cClimate\u201d Projects<\/h3>\n