Ok, I was having a fun argument with a friend the other day...
One topic was oil subsidies in the UK.
"No such thing in the UK they don't exist... Oil production and distribution is taxed at about 80 to 90 percent. No such thing as oil subsidies in the UK. It's left wing rubbish"
Is a tax rebate a subsidy?
Is tax payer paying for clean decommissioning a subsidy?
Is 5 million tax payer money on fracking PR a subsidy?
Is government funding pro academia and focus groups a subsidy?
In other parts of the world there may be real subsidised oil prices but what about the UK specifically.
Anyone got anything constructive to add / say to bolster the argument that oil / gas / coal in the UK gets subsidies?
I went home and did a bit of research.
http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9957.pdf
See pg 69 / 70 for UK summary
Tax breaks for north sea oil
Decommissioning costs
5 million to promote fracking.
http://www.odi.org/publications/10058-production-subsidies-oil-gas-coal-fossil-fuels-g20-broken-promises
Maybe I should have used the words tax breaks and government funded exploration and research directly benefiting oil companies production.
World wide subsidies vs UK specific subsidies.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-government-pays-6bn-a-year-in-subsidies-to-fossil-fuel-industry-a6730946.html
"The Government claims it does not give any subsidies to the fossil-fuel industry. This is because it has a different, stricter definition of subsidy – which it limits to “government action that lowers the pre-tax price to consumers to below international-market levels”.
"...This is despite David Cameron telling a UN climate-change conference in September 2014: “We need to give business the certainty it needs to invest in low carbon. That means fighting against the economically and environmentally perverse fossil‑fuel subsidies.” "
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_subsidies
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/12/uk-breaks-pledge-to-become-only-g7-country-increase-fossil-fuel-subsidies
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=is+oil+production+subsidised
As for free markets they might be a nice idea if I ever saw one, although most seem to end up as monopolies.
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Is-The-Oil-Industry-Really-Subsidized.html
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/12/us-taxpayers-subsidising-worlds-biggest-fossil-fuel-companies
But on one level he was right, oil and gas versus renewable subsidies. Renewables get real life subsidies versus the hidden subsidies in oil and gas. It is comparing apples sand oranges. There is u fortunately a lot of ignorant bs being propagated by the green side. Loose use of language and lazy journalism and thinking. Which is why it's good to be challenged by opposing viewpoints. To sharpen up. I want to raise the level of debate not sink to the level of PR and spin. Oil and gas get indirect subsidies in terms of lower tax rates and tax payer funded clean ups. If Norway can charge them 90 percent tax and they still make money why are we charging them 50 percent with tax breaks?
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