£1bn bonanza for dirty energy companies8 February 2013
In the last 10 months the Chancellor has given nearly £1bn of tax breaks to energy companies. Friends of the Earth's new calculations have revealed the huge subsidies they've been paid to keep extracting dirty fossil fuels from the UK.
Without these subsidies millions of barrels of oil and gas would have stayed in the ground.
They also contribute to keeping economies hooked on oil and gas. This increases the risk of climate change and makes it harder for clean energy sectors to expand.
Energy markets can be thought of as suffering from appendicitis due to fossil fuel subsidies. They need to be removed for a healthy energy economy.
Fatih Birol, The International Energy Agency chief economist
Carbon consequences
The subsidies have created a bonanza for energy companies. They've made it profitable to increase the extraction of oil and gas - despite the carbon consequences.
Next, Osborne is promising to extend tax breaks to shale gas production - a form of fuel extraction Friends of the Earth is opposed to. Instead of propping up an out dated energy industry, we need Osborne to support the UK's huge potential for clean, renewable energy.
