Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

1 day ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

1 day ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

2 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

2 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

2 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

2 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

2 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

2 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

2 days ago
Bloomberg at UN: US President Must End Fossil Fuel Subsidies
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
December 10, 2019

Share

MADRID — The next U.S. president should stop subsidizing fossil fuels to help tackle climate change, billionaire Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday, highlighting an issue that is the central pillar of his bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential race.

“The next president of the United States should end all subsidies for fossil fuel companies and fossil fuel extraction, and that includes tax breaks and other special treatment.” — Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg 
Bloomberg, who launched his presidential campaign less than three weeks ago, spoke during a whirlwind trip to the United Nations global climate conference in Madrid.
By taking aim at fossil fuel subsidies, Bloomberg is challenging both a powerful American industry and Republican President Donald Trump, who has championed the extraction of oil, gas and coal.
Fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal are one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions warming the planet. Scientists say their use needs to end by the middle of the century if average temperatures on Earth are to rise no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100, the target set in the Paris climate accord four years ago.
“The next president of the United States should end all subsidies for fossil fuel companies and fossil fuel extraction, and that includes tax breaks and other special treatment,” Bloomberg said during an event on sustainable finances organized by the conference host, Spain.
“He or she should reinvest that funding into clean energy, which will also create a lot of new jobs,” Bloomberg added.

Bloomberg Has Been a Regular Visitor to These Talks

According to a report by the International Monetary Fund, effective fossil fuel subsidies in the United States amounted to $649 billion in 2015. Only China spent more tax money — $1.4 trillion — to keep fossil fuel prices low that year.
The IMF report calculated that if prices reflected the true costs of fossil fuels, including the environmental damage they cause, consumption would have dropped so much that global carbon emissions would be 28% lower.
Discussing measures to curb emissions, such as an end to fossil fuel subsidies, is one of the reasons that officials from nearly 200 countries meet each year at the climate summit. Bloomberg has been a regular visitor to these talks but his attendance this year stands out because of his presidential ambitions.
The 77-year-old businessman and former New York mayor has helped support and fund a private push to organize U.S. states, cities and businesses to abide by the terms of the 2015 Paris accord, a treaty the Trump administration is working to abandon.
“Americans are willing to continue to work even with a climate change denier in the White House,” Bloomberg told a packed audience in Madrid.
“The White House matters, but sometimes not too much,” he added.
Bloomberg, like other Democratic hopefuls, has vowed to rejoin the Paris accord if he’s elected president next year. The U.S. remains a party to the climate pact until Nov. 4, 2020 — the day after the U.S. presidential vote.

Photo of commuters backed up in traffic
In this slow-shutter zoom effect photo, commuters backed up in traffic during the morning rush hour in Brussels, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019. The Belgium capital regularly experiences pollution alert warnings. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

The Talks in Madrid Shifted Into Higher Gear Tuesday

The Trump administration has sent a low-level delegation to the talks, led by a career diplomat, Ambassador Marcia Bernicat.
John Kerry, the former Secretary of State under the last Democratic administration, is also attending events on the sidelines of the Madrid climate conference. He said the absence of any representative from the White House at the talks “speaks for itself.”

“It shows that there has not yet been an internalization of the emergency situation that we are in, that so few heads of state are coming to Madrid and ready to roll up their sleeves and do what it takes to actually respond to the science.” — Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International
“It’s an absence of leadership,” Kerry told The Associated Press. “It’s a tragedy.”
The talks in Madrid shifted into higher gear Tuesday as ministers arrived to tackle some of the thorny political issues still remaining, including finalizing the rules for international carbon markets — which economists say could help drive down emissions — and getting help for poor countries to cope with the effects of rising temperatures.
Despite growing awareness of climate change and warnings from scientists that drastic action needs to be taken to avert extreme temperature increases by the end of the century, only a handful of countries will be represented at the U.N. climate summit this year by their prime ministers or presidents, worrying some observers.
“It shows that there has not yet been an internalization of the emergency situation that we are in, that so few heads of state are coming to Madrid and ready to roll up their sleeves and do what it takes to actually respond to the science,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International.
She also accused some governments, such as Brazil and Saudi Arabia, of trying to weaken the agreements, and called on the European Union to work with vulnerable nations to counter those efforts.

Climate Change Has Become a Growing Political Issue in Europe

Environmental activists are hoping the EU will present an ambitious plan this week to cut emissions in the medium- and long-term that would send a message of hope to weary negotiators in Madrid.
The new head of the EU’s executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has backed a call for the bloc to stop all net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.
Climate change has become a growing political issue in Europe, especially for the young, over the past year. The region has seen rising support for environmental parties, driven in part by young people staging regular mass protests in favor of faster actions to combat climate change.
Two of the youth movement’s most prominent figures, Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg and Luisa Neubauer of Germany, used their platform at the U.N. talks to champion the scientific understanding of climate change.
“As it is now, people are not fully aware of what is going on,” Thunberg said.
Her comments were later echoed by Bloomberg, who recently stepped down as the U.N.’s climate envoy.
“There’s new evidence every day that the climate crisis is only getting worse and that should redouble our efforts,” he said. “Our children’s future really is at stake. We have an obligation to act now.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

DON'T MISS

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

UP NEXT

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

UP NEXT

CIA Review Finds Flaws but Does Not Dispute Finding Putin Sought to Sway 2016 Vote to Trump

UP NEXT

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

UP NEXT

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

UP NEXT

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

UP NEXT

Zohran Mamdani Officially Wins Democratic Primary for New York City Mayor

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

US Supreme Court Lets Parents Take Kids Out of Classes With LGBT Storybooks

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

1 day ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

1 day ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

1 day ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

1 day ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

1 day ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

1 day ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

1 day ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

1 day ago

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

1 day ago

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

1 day ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Can you hear it — that loud roar coming from the East? It’s the sound of 1.4 billion Chinese laughing at us. Thomas L. Friedman The New Yo...

10 hours ago

Solar Farm in Riesel, Texas
10 hours ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Caitlin Clark Signs T-Shirt
10 hours ago

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 day ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

The Madre Fire burning near New Cuyama has scorched 70,801 acres as of Friday, July 4, 2025, afternoon, making it California’s largest wildfire of the year, with only 10% containment and multiple evacuation zones in place. (CalFire)
1 day ago

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

1 day ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

A pumpjack operates at the Vermilion Energy site in Trigueres, France, June 14, 2024. (Reuters File)
1 day ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 day ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

Billy Wayne Sinisgalli, a 54-year-old transient known locally as Wayne, was found dead along a rural Fresno road Wednesday in what authorities are investigating as a suspicious death. (Fresno County SO)
1 day ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend