When Will the Sun Set on Fossil Fuel Subsidies?, with Joseph Aldy

Published: Sept. 6, 2021, midnight

In this week\u2019s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Joseph E. Aldy about fossil fuel subsidies\u2014an area that Aldy has researched extensively and a subject that has been rekindled in the policy dialogue after President Joe Biden suggested removing such subsidies when he released his American Jobs Plan in April this year. But this somewhat amorphous concept of fossil fuel subsidies has been notoriously difficult to define and equally difficult to take action on. Aldy and Hayes reflect on how the Biden administration is approaching these definitional questions and what they\u2019re hoping to achieve, both in terms of policy action and emissions outcomes.\n\nReferences and recommendations:\n\n\u201cTestimony on the Elimination of Fossil Fuel Subsidies to the US Subcommittee on the Environment\u201d delivered by Joseph E. Aldy at an Earth Day hearing hosted by the US House Oversight Committee; https://www.rff.org/publications/testimony-and-public-comments/testimony-to-the-us-subcommittee-on-the-environment-on-the-elimination-of-fossil-fuel-subsidies/\n\n\u201cThe Role of Fossil Fuel Subsidies in Preventing Action on the Climate Crisis,\u201d a video of the testimony delivered by Joseph E. Aldy at the Earth Day hearing hosted by the US House Oversight Committee; https://youtu.be/yRUm8veLKlk?t=782\n\n\u201cMoney for Nothing: The Case for Eliminating US Fossil Fuel Subsidies\u201d by Joseph E. Aldy; https://www.resources.org/archives/money-for-nothing-the-case-for-eliminating-us-fossil-fuel-subsidies/\n\n\u201cProtection for Sale\u201d by Gene M. Grossman and Elhanan Helpman; https://pages.uoregon.edu/bruceb/Andrea.pdf