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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14892 Location: on earth
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Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2021 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/epa-cleans-out-trump-era-shills-on-its-science-advisory-boards/ar-BB1faydi?ocid=msedgntp
EPA Cleans Out Trump-Era Shills on Its Science Advisory Boards
Quote: | MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Promises to 'Dump' New Election Fraud Evidence in…
Vaccine expert says discovery of J&J issue highlights rigor of…
When he wasn’t busy searching for Ritz Carlton lotion, former Environmental Protection Administrator Scott Pruitt also gutted the agency’s science advisory boards. But after forcing out impartial scientists and installing people who literally denied air pollution’s adverse impacts on public health, the agency is reversing course under new Administrator Michael Regan. |
_________________ when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard. |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17749 Location: Berkeley, California
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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Let's pay them to cook the planet:
Quote: | U.S. Tax Subsidies to the Fossil Fuel Industry
The federal government provides numerous subsidies, both direct and indirect, to the fossil fuel industry. Special provisions in the U.S. tax code designed to specifically support and reward domestic fossil fuel‐related production are direct subsidies. Other provisions in the tax code aimed at businesses in general create indirect subsidies that are not exclusive to the fossil fuels industry. In certain cases, quantifying these subsidies is fairly simple. In the case of indirect subsidies, establishing an amount associated with these subsidies is more challenging. While not covered in this fact sheet, another source of federal aid to the fossil fuel industry is the discounted cost of leasing federal lands for fossil fuel extraction. Some fossil fuel subsidies provide public assistance, such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which assists low-income households with heating costs.
In May 2019, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report detailing an internationally accepted methodology that will help countries make their fossil fuel subsidies more transparent.
Direct Subsidies
Intangible Drilling Costs Deduction (26 U.S. Code § 263. Active). This provision allows companies to deduct a majority of the costs incurred from drilling new wells domestically. In its analysis of President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Proposal, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimated that eliminating tax breaks for intangible drilling costs would generate $1.59 billion in revenue in 2017, or $13 billion in the next ten years.
Percentage Depletion (26 U.S. Code § 613. Active). Depletion is an accounting method that works much like depreciation, allowing businesses to deduct a certain amount from their taxable income as a reflection of declining production from a reserve over time. However, with standard cost depletion, if a firm were to extract 10 percent of recoverable oil from a property, the depletion expense would be ten percent of capital costs. In contrast, percentage depletion allows firms to deduct a set percentage from their taxable income. Because percentage depletion is not based on capital costs, total deductions can exceed capital costs. This provision is limited to independent producers and royalty owners. In its analysis of the President’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Proposal, the JCT estimated that eliminating percentage depletion for coal, oil and natural gas would generate $12.9 billion in the next ten years.
Credit for Clean Coal Investment Internal Revenue Code § 48A (Active) and 48B (Inactive). These subsidies create a series of tax credits for energy investments, particularly for coal. In 2005, Congress authorized $1.5 billion in credits for integrated gasification combined cycle properties, with $800 million of this amount reserved specifically for coal projects. In 2008, additional incentives for carbon sequestration were added to IRC § 48B and 48A. These included 30 percent investment credits, which were made available for gasification projects that sequester 75 percent of carbon emissions, as well as advanced coal projects that sequester 65 percent of carbon emissions. Eliminating credits for investment in these projects would save $1 billion between 2017 and 2026.
Nonconventional Fuels Tax Credit (Internal Revenue Code § 45. Inactive). Sunsetted in 2014, this tax credit was created by the Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980 to promote domestic energy production and reduce dependence on foreign oil. Although amendments to the act limited the list of qualifying fuel sources, this credit provided $12.2 billion to the coal industry from 2002-2010.
Indirect Subsidies
Last In, First Out Accounting (26 U.S. Code § 472. Active). The Last In, First Out accounting method (LIFO) allows oil and gas companies to sell the fuel most recently added to their reserves first, as opposed to selling older reserves first under the traditional First In, First Out (FIFO) method. This allows the most expensive reserves to be sold first, reducing the value of their inventory for taxation purposes.
Foreign Tax Credit (26 U.S. Code § 901. Active). Typically, when firms operating in foreign countries pay royalties abroad they can deduct these expenses from their taxable income. Instead of claiming royalty payments as deductions, oil and gas companies are able to treat them as fully deductible foreign income tax. In 2016, the JCT estimated that closing this loophole for all American businesses operating in countries that do not tax corporate income would generate $12.7 billion in tax revenue over the course of the following decade.
Master Limited Partnerships (Internal Revenue Code § 7704. Indirect. Active). Many oil and gas companies are structured as Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). This structure combines the investment advantages of publicly traded corporations with the tax benefits of partnerships. While shareholders still pay personal income tax, the MLP itself is exempt from corporate income taxes. More than three-quarters of MLPs are fossil fuel companies. This provision is not available to renewable energy companies.
Domestic Manufacturing Deduction (IRC §199. Indirect. Inactive). Put in place in 2004, this subsidy supported a range of companies by decreasing their effective corporate tax rate. While this deduction was available to domestic manufacturers, it nevertheless benefitted fossil fuel companies by allowing “oil producers to claim a tax break intended for U.S. manufacturers to prevent job outsourcing”. The Office of Management and Budget estimated that repealing this deduction for coal and other hard mineral fossil fuels would have saved $173 million between 2012 and 2016. This subsidy was repealed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115 – 97) starting fiscal year 2018. |
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techno900
Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4162
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 10:25 am Post subject: |
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The goal for the climate change portion of the infrastructure bill seems to be a bit foggy.
https://youtu.be/Gvpb8XQ1xN8 |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17749 Location: Berkeley, California
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 11:57 am Post subject: |
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With reports of temperature rise in the paper this morning, and with renewed debate about how much of Antarctica might melt, the disinformation industry starts pinging folks like Techno with you tube videos to divert his attention.
Quote: | By
Chris Mooney and
Brady Dennis
May 5, 2021 at 8:02 a.m. PDT
Scientists struggling to understand the threat of sea level rise on a warming Earth found Wednesday that amid lingering uncertainty, this much is clear: Meeting the goals of the Paris climate agreement remain humanity’s best hope for preserving current coastlines in the 21st century.
At the same time, they diverged over the risks posed by the biggest wild card, the Antarctic ice sheet, which contains by far the most ice on the planet and holds the potential to unleash tens of feet of sea level rise.
Ice losses from Antarctica have been accelerating in recent years, and research suggests that in warm periods in the Earth’s past (similar to the one that humanity is now fueling), the ice sheet shed a great deal of its mass. But a central issue is how fast that could occur this time around and whether today’s computer simulations can adequately capture what will really happen, especially during the lifetimes of people currently living.
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Quote: | Since 1901-1930, the first period for which climate normals were calculated, the contiguous United States has warmed 1.7 degrees, or about 1 degree Celsius. That’s roughly on par with the global rate of warming over that period, although the United States was lagging the rest of the world until the last several decades. |
Last edited by mac on Wed May 05, 2021 8:24 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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swchandler
Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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Sen. Kennedy clearly highlights how Republicans can waste time with nonsense. Moreover, with Kennedy's comments you can see just how Republicans excel in accomplishing nothing and appear completely devoid of any vision for a better future. |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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In the April 17 WSJ, WSJ/Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. discussed the book, “Unsettled” by Steven Koonin in an article titled, “How a Physicist Became a Climate Truth Teller”. After a stint at the Obama Energy Department, Steven Koonin reclaims the science of a warming planet from the propaganda peddlers.
For those of you who don’t subscribe to the WSJ, here’s a link to the article in its entirety from an independent source:
https://co2coalition.org/2021/04/16/how-a-physicist-became-a-climate-truth-teller/
I’m fully aware of the credentialed scientific criticisms of Koonin’s claims, but those criticisms’ most important function relates to the title of Koonin’s book: ”Unsettled”. Far too many here and across the globe actually consider CONSENSUS as proof of something. First, that 98% consensus was debunked by 98% of the scientists falsely accused of supporting it. Second, labeling those who understand this as racists and homophobes and “deniers" (as in holocaust deniers) reflects solely on those making such stupid and childish claims. Both camps present endless “data” to back up their claims here and historically, and spending trillions (90 of them by some estimates) and disrupting our lives more than AGW will remains stupid and purely political (as publicly and explicitly avowed by AOC's head toady).
The book hits the streets (and my Kindle) this week. I expect to find that AGWA isn’t worth $1T, let alone the 90 trillion dollars the left wants to spend on it, especially considering China’s and India’s attitude (“Screw the atmosphere, the planet, the USA, and John Kerry”). Around the world, AGW has long ranked down about #20 in the public’s list of concerns, and that was before the BLM (run by self-avowed Marxists), teachers’ unions (surely you’re aware of the proof that your children are not being educated largely because the unions very strongly influence the CDC’s so-called “science”), Antifa, decimating police protection, support for rioting, etc. ripped our lives apart. |
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J64TWB
Joined: 24 Dec 2013 Posts: 1685
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 12:40 pm Post subject: |
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What an asshole. Can you imagine a patient demanding to know the exact dollar amount will guarantee a kidney not to fail. Or an exact date to money ratio for the failure of a heart procedure? |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17749 Location: Berkeley, California
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techno900
Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4162
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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Have I ever denied that there was global warming? The post simply lays out the fact that throwing tax dollars at global warming without any measure of it's possible impact seems really, really stupid. At a minimum, the fellow responding to Kennedy seems clueless. The likelihood is that the climate change promoters know that the impact of all this spending will have almost no global impact, so they are reluctant to acknowledge the truth. |
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techno900
Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4162
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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J64TWB wrote: | What an asshole. Can you imagine a patient demanding to know the exact dollar amount will guarantee a kidney not to fail. Or an exact date to money ratio for the failure of a heart procedure? |
If I went to a Dr. with a kidney issue and the Dr. would not lay out the possible outcomes of the treatment or the cost of the treatment, I would find another Dr. |
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