Tax Fossil Fuel Profits to Reduce Exposure to Energy Price Spikes or End Subsidies - CleanTechnica

The article from CleanTechnica highlights that fossil fuel companies in the EU earned over €180 billion in taxable profits during the two years following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with profits peaking at over €104 billion in 2022 before slightly declining to €82 billion in 2023. Despite rising global energy prices, government measures such as tax reductions and exemptions aimed at protecting consumers inadvertently sustained high fossil fuel demand, thereby boosting fossil fuel company profits. The article argues that the EU faces a critical policy decision: either phase out fossil fuel subsidies, which currently exceed €100 billion annually, or implement sustained taxes on these excessive profits to alleviate the financial burden on consumers. Transport & Environment (T&E) advocates for taxing the windfall profits of oil and gas companies to create a fairer system for European citizens, emphasizing that current government actions effectively transfer public wealth to private fossil fuel firms. The article also discusses the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), which has successfully raised over €230 billion since