WRAP UP

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
3/29/13

IN THE ADMINISTRATION

The Obama Administration announced late this week that it will send its Fiscal Year 2014 budget request to Congress on April 10. The request will come approximately two months later than usual—a delay the White House has said was caused, in part, by the Administration’s focus on the issue of sequestration.

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT

A new report from the International Monetary Fund argues that nations should eliminate fossil fuel subsidies if they truly want to clamp down on climate change. The report estimates that on a post-tax basis—which incorporates the negative externalities of energy consumption—subsidies for coal, oil, natural gas and electricity in 176 countries totaled $1.9 trillion in 2011, or 2.5 percent of global GDP. It says that breaks for oil exporters account for about one-third of those subsidies. “Removing these subsidies could lead to a 13 percent decline in CO2 emissions and generate positive spillover effects by reducing global energy demand,” according to the report.