Posts Made By: Mel Maki

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Coal, oil, and natural gas received $5.9 trillion in subsidies in 2020 — or roughly $11 million every minute — according to a new analysis from the International Monetary Fund."
"Explicit subsidies accounted for only 8 percent of the total. The remaining 92 percent were implicit subsidies, which took the form of tax breaks or, to a much larger degree, health and environmental damages that were not priced into the cost of fossil fuels, according to the analysis."
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/fossil-fuels-received-5-9-trillion-in-subsidies-in-2020-report-finds#:~:text=Fossil%20Fuels%20Received%20%245.9%20Trillion%20In%20Subsidies%20in%202020%2C%20Report%20Finds,-An%20open%2Dpit&text=Coal%2C%20oil%2C%20and%20natural%20gas,8%20percent%20of%20the%20total.
"The United States provides a number of tax subsidies to the fossil fuel industry as a means of encouraging domestic energy production. These include both direct subsidies to corporations, as well as other tax benefits to the fossil fuel industry. Conservative estimates put U.S. direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry at roughly $20 billion per year; with 20 percent currently allocated to coal and 80 percent to natural gas and crude oil. European Union subsidies are estimated to total 55 billion euros annually."
https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-fossil-fuel-subsidies-a-closer-look-at-tax-breaks-and-societal-costs
So please MEL, stop pleading the poverty argument on behalf of big oil...

Originally Posted by James Lacey

The operative phrase is "could have," and the program you are talking about was canceled in 1994. There have been plenty of opportunities for Republicans to pursue this technology if it is a game-changer. I suspect it's not and that there are many issues regarding breeder reactors (nuclear proliferation, cost-effectiveness, technical difficulties, etc. ) that have contributed to their demise and lack of further research in the last almost 30 years since 1994. Boy, talk about having to take a trip in the way-back machine.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

30 years Mel. The Republicans have had 30 years to do something about it.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

Mel,

An accurate and correct accounting of what happened on 1/6 is reason enough to have these hearings.

As far as committee hearings go, this one is quite well done. Instead of a bunch of congresspeople using their time to grandstand and score cheap political points, this hearing is produced exceptionally well. You can tell they hired some professional help. Today is going to be a very bad day for Trump. You can tell by how much he's whining on social media.

Originally Posted by Jim Moscheck

I see. When you don't like the message you tune it out. These hearings have nothing to do with inflation or gas supplies. Since the GOP at large isn't participating maybe they can spend some of their free time attempting to solve these issues.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

Believe it or not, they can do more than one thing simultaneously.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

Tomorrow should be an even worse day for Trump. They will cover in detail how he pressured State officials to change their election results. I'm sure there are many Republicans who are hoping these hearings spell the end of Trump and his grotesque MAGA movement.