British Columbia giving taxpayer gift of $5.35 billion gift to Gas company

The “right” fiscal framework amounts to a bouquet of government subsidies for B.C.’s largest carbon polluter, including tax reprieves, tax exemptions and cheaper electricity rates for some of the largest and most profitable multinationals in the world — the LNG Canada quintet of Royal Dutch Shell, Mitsubishi Corp., Malaysian-owned Petronas, PetroChina Co. and Korean Gas Corp. 

At a technical briefing for media, a B.C. senior government official pegged the province’s total financial incentives for the project at $5.35 billion.

https://thenarwhal.ca/lng-canada-project-called-a-tax-giveaway-as-b-c-approves-massive-subsidies/ 

Trolls still asking "who will pay for #freepublictransport?" while EU votes €24 billion for gas

Energy projects on the 4th PCI list are eligible to receive up to 50% of funding from the EU through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Among the 151 projects included on the list, 55 new fossil gas projects have sparked the greatest backlash. 

"This decision could unleash €24 billion in finance for climate-wrecking pipelines and €1.7 billion for new LNG (liquified natural gas) terminals, which eclipses the €7.5 billion of new resources due to be raised to tackle the climate crisis through the EU's plans for a 'Green Deal,'" said Clemence Dubois, campaigner at climate group 350.org.

https://www.dw.com/en/eu-votes-for-more-gas-infrastructure-angering-climate-activists/a-52351386

Fossil fuel subsidy measured in the Trillions of US dollars

theconversation.com

Instead of free market capitalism versus the climate, we have fossil fuel welfare versus the climate. And if we reinvested that fossil fuel welfare into social and ecological welfare, we could create a much more socially and ecologically prosperous future.

US annual direct cost of potholes to drivers $3 billion

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), pothole damages to U.S. motorists total about $3 billion per year. On a per-pothole-incident basis, that works out to about $300 per driver.

https://www.pothole.info/2018/04/the-cost-of-car-damages-from-potholes/ 

GM's Oshawa plant looking for more #autosprawlsubsidy

The proposal to preserve auto manufacturing in Oshawa calls for a federal investment of $1.4 billion to $1.9 billion to transform the existing facility into a plant that would produce electric vehicles for government agencies such as Canada Post.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/oshawa-gm-plant-ev-transformation-1.5291582 

Electric cars an excuse for more #autosprawlsubsidy

Business Insider: "The California state Assembly passed a $3-billion subsidy program for electric vehicles, dwarfing the existing program. The bill is now in the state Senate. If passed, it will head to Governor Jerry Brown, who has not yet indicated if he’d sign what is ostensibly an effort to put EV sales into high gear, but below the surface appears to be a Tesla bailout."

Paid to Sprawl: Subsidized Job Flight from Cleveland and Cincinnati

Good Jobs First: "Many Ohio companies were awarded lucrative property tax breaks as they moved facilities around within the Cleveland and Cincinnati metro areas.  The subsidized relocations, affecting an estimated 14,500 workers, were overwhelmingly outward bound and by many measures fueled suburban sprawl and regional inequality. Full Report (11MB)."

Direct subsidy to cars - for roads only - calculated at $1,100 per household.

City Observatory: "The report documents that the amount that road users pay through gas taxes now accounts for less than half of what we spend to maintain and expand the road system. The shortfall is made up from other sources of tax revenue at the state and local level. This subsidization of car users costs the typical household about $1,100 per year – over and above what they pay in gas taxes, tolls and other user fees."

In the US, the yellow school bus is #autosprawlsubsidy

The Economist: "Fort Wayne expects to lose $2.5m from its school-transport budget in the coming year (and is forbidden to spend money from other funds on buses, or to charge fees for school transport). Local officials further reduce funds for schools by offering tax breaks to attract businesses, and by diverting property taxes to economic-development schemes. Four other school districts in Indiana have served formal notice that they may scrap bus services."

In the US suburbs there is no public transit. Outside the housing development, suburbs are unwalkable. But "good schools" are one of the main attractions of sprawl. So, for safety, with few exceptions, children have to ride a yellow school bus. Now, there is no money left. Sprawl subsidy is unsustainable.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Oil Change : "As of July 2014, Oil Change International estimates the total value of U.S. subsidies to the fossil fuel industry at $37.5 billion annually, including international finance.  This does not include military, health, climate, or local pollution costs.  These subsidies have increased dramatically as U.S. oil and gas production has increased."

Government uses false data to justify autosprawl welfare

The Latest - APTA - Advocate: "These inaccuracies need to be addressed, because the forecasts inform lawmakers’ level of ”needed spending,” and could spur overbuilding of infrastructure to support car travel, draining funds from other investments like public transportation, where ridership actually increased in 2013. While funding public roads and highways remains crucial for all forms of transportation, the rising ridership of public transit should trigger increased investments."

Congress, full of oil trolls, cuts unemployment benefits, gives welfare to cars

Why should drivers get bigger subsidies than mass-transit riders? - The Washington Post: "One of the things lawmakers failed to do before adjourning this year, The Post’s Jia Lynn Yang reported, was adjust the program that allows workers, through their employers, to set aside pretax income to offset the cost of their commutes. As a result, starting Jan. 1, commuters who use mass transit will be able to set aside only $130 a month, down from $245 a month, while drivers will be able to increase their monthly parking set-aside from $245 to $250. Never mind that the increased use of public transportation benefits everyone, including those who continue to drive, giving them less traffic to contend with."

'via Blog this'

Bangkok auto-purchase subsidy creates traffic nightmare

Traffic tops governor's to-do list | Bangkok Post: breakingnews: "Hundreds of thousands of new cars have hit the streets in the wake of the government's wildly successful tax-rebate programme for first-car buyers. Some longtime residents believe traffic is as bad as in the mid-1990s before the capital had any mass transit."