Students for a Just and Stable Future
Studies have shown that removing these tax preferences would affect less than 1% of the revenue of fossil fuel companies, and have very slight effects on oil production, gas prices, jobs, or the economy. In fact, studies have predicted that if we removed the market distortions from this fossil fuel favoritism, overall economic activity would be stimulated[1]!
How much would this cost the average American consumer? According to one study, less than a cup of coffee—only $1.42 more per year! Other studies have found different consumer cost increases, but the very maximum is $6.50 a year, still less than an hour’s work at minimum wage[2].
Proposed budget cuts that eliminate these harmful fossil fuel subsidies would save us more than $40 billion over the next decade[3]. We are in a recession—we need this money to provide tax relief to struggling families, pay off the national debt, upgrade our public transit systems, create jobs in the clean energy sector, or any other number of valuable investments in America.
More information can be found at this report prepared by Resources for the Future.
Take action to cut harmful fossil fuel subsidies from the 2013 budget by
[1] Allaire, Maura and Brown, Stephen. “Eliminating Subsidies for Fossil Fuel Production: Implications for U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Markets.” Resources for the Future. December 2009. p13, 14.
[2] Ibid, p6,7.
[3] ”Department of Energy.” Office of Management and Budget. Retrieved 10 March 2012 from <http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/factsheet_department_energy>.