Energy economist pushes for end to fossil-fuel
subsidies
Jun 09 - Tulsa World
The International Energy Agency's chief economist is calling on leaders
of the Group of 20 Nations to fulfill their pledge to end fossil-fuel
subsidies, a move he says will cut oil demand and greenhouse-gas
emissions.
"This is the only single policy item that could make such a major change
in the global energy and climate-change game," Fatih Birol told
Bloomberg News on Monday.
Stopping aid by 2020 would reduce global oil demand by 6.5 million
barrels a day, he said, or about one-third of the current U.S. use.
Subsidies that promote consumption, such as below-market gasoline
prices, totaled $557 billion in 2008, Birol said. Nations that use them
the most include China, Venezuela, Egypt Iraq and Iran, according to IEA
surveys.
Global leaders are searching for ways to reduce dependency on
oil and tackle global warming as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
focuses attention on the broader cost of fossil fuels.
G20 leaders, who failed to broker a deal on restricting carbon emissions
at the Copenhagen climate summit, will discuss how to implement their
pledge in Toronto this month, Birol said.
Originally published by BLOOMBERG NEWS.
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