It’s obscene that the fossil fuel industry continues to receive billions in subsidies (i.e., taxpayer dollars) at a time when they’ve been reaping record profits and, more importantly, the use of their products is beginning to render the planet unlivable.

While common sense would dictate stopping these subsidies, the fact is that Big Oil controls many of our elected officials in D.C., and this has made it impossible to stop this senseless corporate welfare. Meanwhile, a hard fact: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if we are to meet the net-zero target by 2050, significant progress needs to be made in removing CO2 from the atmosphere. To address both issues, we should follow the model of Extended Producer Responsibility laws that make producers liable for the entire life-cycle of their products.

Since a significant portion of the excess CO2 that’s in the atmosphere has come from the use of fossil fuel products, those corporations should bear some of the responsibility for dealing with the consequences. A requirement of the federal subsidy arrangement should be that a portion of the financial support fossil fuel corporations receive be converted to funding for carbon dioxide removal technologies. Funding currently to prop up the coal industry and finance fossil fuel development abroad are two areas that could be diverted for this purpose.

Arguably, this would still enable fossil fuel corporate freeloading, but it would at least invigorate much-needed carbon dioxide removal development at the time we need it most.

Tom Berry
Kennebunk