Just read a bit about the massive subsidies the fossil fuels industry receives in the U.S and I was confused. Aren’t these companies one of the most profitable ones in the U.S?
In: Economics
One thing to remember is that oil is a commodity and strategic resource. It’s a building block price for a shit load of other prices we deal with everyday. In my line of work the cost of fuel for construction equipment is built into the construction cost with considerable risk to the contractor (if you bid something in April to be built next year in March, you better hope something horrible doesn’t happen to fuel prices between now and then). So fucking with it too much has a ripple effect that can cause some serious harm (businesses going under kind of harm).
Strategically the US wants the oil companies on their dole so they can exert pressure over prices and such. Consider the subsidies as one way the US exerts influence over what would be considered a private enterprise. “We’ll pay you this, this, and this, you do X/Y/Z for us and let us keep the tanks and jets flying for cheap”. Japans entry into World War 2 was largely driven by access to oil, the fact the US has a ton of it is actually a fairly unique geopolitical circumstance (like Russia or Norway or Saudi Arabia) so it tracks that the Government wouldn’t want to give up any leverage on the domestic industry. Knock on effects of those subsidies make oil and gas some of the most lucrative industries for people to get involved in, meaning you’ve got smart folks running the thing, and the gas gets delivered correctly to consumers.
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