Earlier this week, new studies showed that the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex may have been about 30% more massive than scientists believed just one year ago … which makes recent findings from the Paris-based IEA more than a little auspicious (suspicious?), I think.
What findings?
I’m glad you asked (pretend you asked). It turns out that almost $409 billion USD were handed out as price-controlling subsidies this year, keeping fuel prices in the US (and abroad!) artificially low compared to ethanol, bio-diesel, and other forms of energy. This number, by the way, is nearly $110 billion USD higher than it was in 2010 – an increase, for those of you keeping score, of just about 30%.
- dinosaurs are 30% bigger
- subsidies to keep the dino-juice flowing are 30% bigger
The IEA has created a comprehensive and interactive web page allowing users to track subsidies in their regions, as well as a site cataloguing their data and methodologies, so anyone who doubts their figures and projections (which show oil subsidies climbing to $660 billion USD annually, in order to keep prices competitive with alternative energy sources) can take up their issues with them.
Sources: the Hill, Geekologie.
