Yesterday’s 24 hours of tweets calling for the end of fossil fuels subsidies is part of a broad movement telling our leaders that it is time to end handouts to Big Oil and Coal now. The Rio+20 Earth Summit is a moment to say clearly to the fossil fuel industry that their days of riding on the backs of taxpayers needs to end. The G-20 and many other countries have commitments on the books to phase out subsidies to Big Oil and Coal. And the Rio+20 agreement as of today includes language to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. But without timelines, transparency, safeguards for energy access and oversight those commitments seem like greenwashing. Most people agree that it does not make sense to subsidize some of the wealthiest industries in the world. Instead we need to be moving towards renewable and figuring out better ways for energy efficiency and conservation -- while still ensuring that people around the world can light their homes and get where they need every day.
As Robert Redford wrote: We should not be subsidizing the destruction of our planet. Fossil fuels are literally cooking our planet, polluting our air and draining our wallets. Why should we continue to reward companies to do that?
Brace yourself for the winds of change from yesterday’s Twitter storm: