It is such a foreboding feeling to be "climate aware" (place yourself on the spectrum of climate doom / darkness) go about your day encountering so few people seem to be even modestly concerned. It really makes you question your own sense of reality; "This has got to be a simulation, like candid camera, right?"
And every time we pump, we pay the oil industry and its lobbyists to keep doing exactly what they're doing. We're the employer. We create demand. Drive less, use transit, go electric.
I really wish I could believe that some greater power out there was causing the crazy alignment of these things happening at the same time that could push us to sanity and doing what’s actually right for the world, but sadly that doesn’t seem like the case at all. You could not script a comedic drama stronger than what the last few weeks is delivered to us in the world. 😮
I ran a Gemini analysis of the cost of gasoline, arguably the most directly painful way to discuss fossil fuels costs in America. I believe that the results are on the conservative side and that your Substack post shows other true cost factors that may not be fully incorporated in this analysis. Also note that the “Military Security & Open Seas Policy” cost attribution has radically jumped due to Venezuela and Iran, considering that the Pentagon is requesting another $250 billion additional appropriation already and because general costs jump with military operations; I’d guess that figure of +$0.30 cited in the analysis on gasoline prices related to the military may be doubled this year. And then there are added costs for the nation tied to pro-fossil fuel policies, as you point out, including the cool $1billion to “reimburse” France’s TotalEnergy for withdrawing from their offshore wind farm project. Many other Trump Administration actions that keep fossil fuel generation projects moving forward raise electricity bills relative to clean energy.
One of my “favorite” lines in the analysis references the direct subsidies to fossil fuel corporations: “Because oil is a globally traded commodity, removing U.S. tax breaks for producers actually has a minimal impact on the retail price. While these subsidies total between $15 billion and $30 billion annually, they primarily bolster corporate profits rather than lowering the price at the pump.”
Here’s the breakout of how fossil fuel hidden costs create a massive “unpaid bill” across the country, fundamentally distorting the true economic competitiveness of fossil fuels versus clean electricity alternatives:
• Social Cost of Carbon (EPA $190/ton): +$1.84
• Health & Local Pollution (IMF Estimate): +$1.00
• Military Security & Open Seas Policy: +$0.30
• Direct Subsidies & Tax Breaks: +$0.10
Total Added Cost: $3.24 per gallon!
And and that’s not even the full accounting. For example, we all pay the price when corruption—such as the $850 million in suspicious oil futures trading!—takes place, and with Trump’s reign of unparalleled corruption, that itself is a huge bill coming due.
If we paid the true price of oil (i.e., if capitalism were actually operating on its terms), oil and other fossil fuels (plastic, too) would be astronomically expensive, far too great to use as we do.
*And I've been wondering (alluded to in the final paragraph)... is bombing Iran driven in part to create oil demand/need where there wasn't any thereby to further efforts to drill in places such as the Arctic National Refuge (and line the pockets of interested parties)? If so, it'd be good to get that out there. Thanks for all y'all are doing!
Hi Emily, I’m recently following HEATED, and I read every post and podcast because your material is interesting, informed and fact-based. I didn’t realize that you would also provide me with up-to-date oil industry meddling/scuttlebutt to include in my novel about a battle against oil conglomerates. Just when I think I’m done with the draft, you throw out another juicy fact!
Flooded homes. Sheltering indoors. Caught in the crossfire of war. If it hasn't happened in your neck of the woods, you probably don't have long to wait before it does. I read a piece about the fragility of our world food supply. We're collectively about to learn some very hard lessons.
On the bright side, … oh, there isn’t really a bright side at the moment. It feels like we are experiencing a perfect storm of greed, ignorance, entitlement, ego-centrism, and complacency in the US. Reduce, protest, vote!
It's always amazing that we still have to say all this stuff. That people in this country will whine and complain about gas prices, not care about weather unless it affects them, and then rinse and repeat. MAGA still thinks that our president controls oil prices and the oil companies will continue the destruction of the planet while my neighbors buy giant vehicles and pray that their god will save them.
It is such a foreboding feeling to be "climate aware" (place yourself on the spectrum of climate doom / darkness) go about your day encountering so few people seem to be even modestly concerned. It really makes you question your own sense of reality; "This has got to be a simulation, like candid camera, right?"
And every time we pump, we pay the oil industry and its lobbyists to keep doing exactly what they're doing. We're the employer. We create demand. Drive less, use transit, go electric.
I really wish I could believe that some greater power out there was causing the crazy alignment of these things happening at the same time that could push us to sanity and doing what’s actually right for the world, but sadly that doesn’t seem like the case at all. You could not script a comedic drama stronger than what the last few weeks is delivered to us in the world. 😮
Thanks, Emily. You are doing great work.
I ran a Gemini analysis of the cost of gasoline, arguably the most directly painful way to discuss fossil fuels costs in America. I believe that the results are on the conservative side and that your Substack post shows other true cost factors that may not be fully incorporated in this analysis. Also note that the “Military Security & Open Seas Policy” cost attribution has radically jumped due to Venezuela and Iran, considering that the Pentagon is requesting another $250 billion additional appropriation already and because general costs jump with military operations; I’d guess that figure of +$0.30 cited in the analysis on gasoline prices related to the military may be doubled this year. And then there are added costs for the nation tied to pro-fossil fuel policies, as you point out, including the cool $1billion to “reimburse” France’s TotalEnergy for withdrawing from their offshore wind farm project. Many other Trump Administration actions that keep fossil fuel generation projects moving forward raise electricity bills relative to clean energy.
One of my “favorite” lines in the analysis references the direct subsidies to fossil fuel corporations: “Because oil is a globally traded commodity, removing U.S. tax breaks for producers actually has a minimal impact on the retail price. While these subsidies total between $15 billion and $30 billion annually, they primarily bolster corporate profits rather than lowering the price at the pump.”
Here’s the breakout of how fossil fuel hidden costs create a massive “unpaid bill” across the country, fundamentally distorting the true economic competitiveness of fossil fuels versus clean electricity alternatives:
• Social Cost of Carbon (EPA $190/ton): +$1.84
• Health & Local Pollution (IMF Estimate): +$1.00
• Military Security & Open Seas Policy: +$0.30
• Direct Subsidies & Tax Breaks: +$0.10
Total Added Cost: $3.24 per gallon!
And and that’s not even the full accounting. For example, we all pay the price when corruption—such as the $850 million in suspicious oil futures trading!—takes place, and with Trump’s reign of unparalleled corruption, that itself is a huge bill coming due.
If we paid the true price of oil (i.e., if capitalism were actually operating on its terms), oil and other fossil fuels (plastic, too) would be astronomically expensive, far too great to use as we do.
*And I've been wondering (alluded to in the final paragraph)... is bombing Iran driven in part to create oil demand/need where there wasn't any thereby to further efforts to drill in places such as the Arctic National Refuge (and line the pockets of interested parties)? If so, it'd be good to get that out there. Thanks for all y'all are doing!
Put simply, Big Oil destroys people, planet, prosperity, and democracy.
Hi Emily, I’m recently following HEATED, and I read every post and podcast because your material is interesting, informed and fact-based. I didn’t realize that you would also provide me with up-to-date oil industry meddling/scuttlebutt to include in my novel about a battle against oil conglomerates. Just when I think I’m done with the draft, you throw out another juicy fact!
Flooded homes. Sheltering indoors. Caught in the crossfire of war. If it hasn't happened in your neck of the woods, you probably don't have long to wait before it does. I read a piece about the fragility of our world food supply. We're collectively about to learn some very hard lessons.
Bravo, Emily! The task of putting it all together is central to the fight to reduce global warming. Your Substack post should be widely distributed.
On the bright side, … oh, there isn’t really a bright side at the moment. It feels like we are experiencing a perfect storm of greed, ignorance, entitlement, ego-centrism, and complacency in the US. Reduce, protest, vote!
It's always amazing that we still have to say all this stuff. That people in this country will whine and complain about gas prices, not care about weather unless it affects them, and then rinse and repeat. MAGA still thinks that our president controls oil prices and the oil companies will continue the destruction of the planet while my neighbors buy giant vehicles and pray that their god will save them.