Carbon tax? Already have one, but wrong people are paying it. #autosprawlwelfare

NRDC: The High Cost Of Doing Nothing: "While policymakers in Washington debate what to do about climate change, it is already costing the American people tens of billions of dollars every year, and the costs are rising. In 2012, that price tag was especially high: Climate-related droughts, super storms, hurricanes, blizzards, heat waves, and wildfires in the United States killed 349 people and caused an estimated $139 billion in damages. Across the nation, more than 3,500 monthly weather records for heat, rain, and snow were shattered -- a new, all-time high. While it is difficult to tie individual extreme weather events to climate change, the science is unequivocal: the growing accumulation of carbon pollution ringing our planet turbocharges what once were just natural disasters. Now, their intensity is increasingly man-made.

Last year, the costs of extreme weather in the United States totaled almost 1 percent of the nation's gross domestic product -- equal to roughly half of all the sales taxes states collected in 2012. That cost is, in effect, a "climate disruption tax," equal to a 2.7 percentage point increase in what Americans paid in sales taxes last year."

'via Blog this'

Externalities of #autosprawl (deferred costs not applied against profit)

Facebook - Forgotten People: "Approximately two million old car tire's are on the ocean floor off Fort Lauderdale in the US, dumped in the 1970s with the intent of creating an artificial reef. The tires are now scouring the ocean floor and wedging against the natural reef, killing coral."

South Africa - Huge subsidies for auto industry

IPS – Should South African Taxpayers Subsidise Car-Making Robots? | Inter Press Service: "“The capital requirements of the motor industry are very high, and so we need to give a lot of subsidies to attract investment. It is a problem when you have an industry where you employ assembly-line robots, not people,” Schussler said."

'via Blog this'

Speeding vehicle of #autosprawlsubsidy, meets brick wall of #peakoil

Indonesian Workers to Strike Over Subsidized Fuel Price Hike | The Jakarta Globe: "Following the government’s plan to raise the price of subsidized gasoline for private vehicle owners, labor unions announced on Wednesday that 10 million workers would strike in August to protest the proposed action. "

Free charge leads to 71 per cent rise in town centre car parks use (From Oxford Mail)

Free charge leads to 71 per cent rise in town centre car parks use (From Oxford Mail): "The council estimated the cost of providing free parking was £250,000-a-year, but increased charges for stays longer than two hours by 30p help pay for the scheme."

'via Blog this'

What are pre-tax and post-tax energy subsidies?

Cheap energy, but at what cost? | Business Spectator: "How common are energy subsidies? Well, subsidies are pervasive.

Let’s start with the ‘pre-tax’ subsidies that arise when prices that consumers pay are below the supply costs of energy. Although relatively few countries have pre-tax subsidies, their magnitude is not trivial: in 2011 they amounted to some $480 billion, or 0.7 per cent of world GDP and 2 per cent of public revenues. And they are much more sizable in certain areas of the world: for example, they amounted to 8.6 per cent of GDP and 21.8 per cent of revenues in the Middle East and North Africa region."

Fossil Fuel [direct] Subsidies: A Global Scandal – EcoWatch: Cutting Edge Environmental News Service

Fossil Fuel Subsidies: A Global Scandal – EcoWatch: Cutting Edge Environmental News Service: "The IMF assessment shows that global fossil fuel subsidies—including carbon pollution impacts from fossil fuels—account for almost nine percent of all annual country budgets, amounting to a staggering US$1.9 trillion, much higher than previously estimated. And importantly, says WWF Global Climate & Energy Initiative leader Samantha Smith, the report confirms that the poorest 20 percent of developing countries only marginally benefit from energy subsidies."

This report is about direct subsidy only, indirect subsidy, or externalities, are much higher.