A Critical Conversation on Climate Change ... - Green Choices

ways forward 335more stringent than those in the US, including laws allowing energyfrom renewable sources to be sold into the grid at a higher price andencouraging more energy-efficient buildings. 30 Even in the US, universities,towns, cities, states and companies are taking their own actionsagainst fossil fuel overuse, often without even mentioning carbontrading. 31 Understanding that strict regulation is inevitable andworried about losing out when it comes, even many large US corporationsare pressing their government for stronger intervention. 32Shifting subsidies away from fossil fuels, similarly, already has a lot ofsupport. Backers range from grassroots groups in the South to Greenpeaceto student organisations, the Climate Crisis Coalition, Platform,the US Climate Emergency Council and the government of Sweden. 33The Kyoto Protocol itself commits its signatories to ‘progressive reductionor phasing out’ of damaging subsidies for fossil fuels. The Organizationfor Economic Cooperation and Development estimates thatremoving such subsidies would alone reduce emissions by 18 per centby 2050 while increasing world income by 0.7 per cent. 34 Oilwatch hasproposed that nation states halt oil and gas extraction in protected areasand that they be compensated by countries that pledge to reduce drasticallytheir carbon dioxide emissions. 35 Roughly 90 per cent of the USvoting public now favours more subsidies and government regulationto encourage renewable energy. 36Demonstrators take tothe streets in Montrealin December 2005on the occasion ofthe 11th Conferenceof the Parties of theUNFCCC.