The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act has a Paycheck Protection Program intended to help small businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Forgivable loans are offered to employers to help keep workforces employed.
Coal and oil industries are big businesses. Yet, they too will benefit from the stimulus package to the tune of $50 million. This is ridiculous. Such industries already receive over $20 billion in tax subsidies every year.
These industries cause us harm each year, with over 100,000 Americans dying from the air pollution coming from burning coal, oil and natural gas. Why should industries price their products to allow dumping of waste into the air for free?
That’s not all. The climate is changing as a result of increasing carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere from that burning. We have to adapt, and that’s expensive. Maine’s municipalities are upsizing every culvert in response to increases in extreme rainfall. Coastal sites must adapt to rising sea levels.
Western States are adapting with the need for fire suppression. The price tag for these adaptations run in the hundreds of billions of dollars. A 2019 study by the International Monetary Fund reports that in 2015, when these externalized costs are factored in, the real cost of U.S. fossil fuel subsidies was $649 billion.
In Maine, it would be better to build the local economy by switching to renewable sources of energy. Maine needs to switch from its current annual purchase of $5 billion worth of fossil fuels, according to a study for the Maine Climate Council. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden need to hear from us that we do not want more of our taxpayer money, earmarked through CARES, to be spent on propping up an industry that needs to be phased out.
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