The Constitutional Cost of Federal Fossil Fuel Subsidies

By: Aidan Ocampo

Edited by: Tess Ballis

U.S. Federal officials have been aware of the devastating implications of burning fossil fuels for decades [1]. Recognizing the costs of releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the federal government “permitted, encouraged, and enabled exploitation” of fossil fuels at the direct expense of American livelihood [2]. Inspired by John Locke’s political philosophy [3], America enshrines its citizens with the inherent rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – all of which are being traded by our federal government’s “deliberate indifference” to the impacts of CO2 emissions [4]. Therefore, in many instances, the federal government’s deliberate promotion of fossil fuel exploitation— through subsidization and provision of federal permits— illegally disregards its constituents' rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

These violations of inalienable rights have already been litigated in the US Supreme Court. In Juliana v. United States, 18-36082 (2020), 21 young plaintiffs sued numerous federal agencies that continued to permit fossil fuel exploitation. Among the plaintiffs include individuals whose narratives include many instances in which climate change has already impacted the lives of America’s youth across the nation. Plaintiff Jaime B, a former resident of the Navajo Nation, has faced displacement from her former home in Cameron, Arizona “because of water scarcity” [5]. After leaving to move to the Kaibab National Forest, “Jaime and her mother were evacuated for two days” because of a wildfire north of their property [6]. This is just one example of how the federal government’s decision to continue its reliance on fossil fuels has led to the detriment of American’s livelihoods—especially our youth.

Although the United States is not the only country to subsidize the fossil fuel industry, it is among the largest subsidizers with a reported $649 billion in 2017 alone [7]. To support the federal government’s substantial investment in fossil fuel exploitation, “US taxpayers are spending tens of billions of dollars a year subsidizing new fossil fuel exploration and exploitation” [8].  In fact, Forbes magazine found that the “United States spends ten times more on fossil fuel subsidies than education” [9]. Historically, the use of fossil fuel subsidies was intended to support the development of domestic energy sources by lowering its cost. However, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, “U.S. taxpayer dollars continue to fund many fossil fuel subsidies that are outdated but remain embedded within the tax code” [10]. Therefore, the federal government is utilizing the taxpayer’s money to fund an industry that will inhibit our ability to fulfill our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

To ensure the prioritization of our rights in political agendas, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania offers a potential solution. In 1971, voters in the state ratified the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution explicitly affirming, “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment [11].” After its inclusion in the state constitution, its state legislature “enacted sweeping environmental laws” in addition to “creating a Department of Environmental Resources” [12]. Similarly, in 1987, the state of Rhode Island adopted an environmental bill of rights provision into its constitutions Declaration of Rights and Privileges. The detailed provision indicates the state as “a trustee and steward of the environment” and depends on the state “to adopt all means necessary and proper by law to protect the natural environment” [13][14]. The ratification of such amendments in more states, or even at the federal level, would seek only to reaffirm these fundamental environmental rights and improve on the safeguards that the environment demands.

According to the National Contingency Plan, the Secretary of the Interior is the trustee of all federal lands including “National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and BLM and BOR lands” [15]. In this role, the public entrusts the Department of the Interior to ensure the proper control and management of its lands. However, this role should not provide the federal government the right to auction off federal land to oil drilling companies to exploit the public’s pristine land in exchange for corporate and government profits.

Ultimately, the federal government has demonstrated that they do not make decisions in the interest of Americans’ well-being or the environment. By consistently permitting the auction of federal lands to drilling and mining companies and spending billions of dollars in taxpayer money subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, the federal government has been actively advancing the devastating impacts of climate change in direct violation of American’s fundamental rights.

Fortunately, Americans now have reason to hope. With the election of Joe Biden, the US has entrusted Biden to pursue his promise to end US fossil fuel subsidies. Though many have noted the steep uphill challenge to such a proposal, Biden’s promise is an indication of a larger trend: the reduction of the federal government’s support of fossil fuel exploitation. Additionally, with Biden’s selection of Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM) as Secretary of the Interior, the management of federal lands will be in the hands of a politician who openly proclaimed “I am wholeheartedly against fracking and drilling on public lands” [16]. As the trustee of federal lands and natural resources, a Secretary Haaland would fulfill her role in protecting lands in the interest of the public: preservation.

notes:

1. The White House. 1965. “Restoring the Quality of Our Environment”. Report of the Environmental Pollution Panel President’s Science Advisory Committee, November 1965. https://ozonedepletiontheory.info/Papers/Revelle1965AtmosphericCarbonDioxide.pdf

2. Juliana v. United States, No. 18-36082 (2015). http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2020/01/17/18-36082.pdf

3. Alex Tuckness. 2020. "Locke’s Political Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2020 Edition), edited by Edward N. Zalta. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/locke-political/

4. Juliana, No. 18-36082

5. Juliana, No. 18-36082

6. Juliana, No. 18-36082 

7. Clayton Coleman and Emma Dietz. 2019. “Fact Sheet: Fossil Fuel Subsidies: A Closer Look at Tax Breaks and Societal Costs.” Environmental and Energy Study Institute, July 29, 2019. Edited by LaShier, Brian et al. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-fossil-fuel-subsidies-a-closer-look-at-tax-breaks-and-societal-costs#:~:text=Historically%2C%20subsidies%20granted%20to%20the,embedded%20within%20the%20tax%20code.

8. David Roberts. 2018. “Friendly policies keep US oil and coal afloat far more than we thought.” Vox, July 26, 2018. https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/10/6/16428458/us-energy-coal-oil-subsidies.

9. James Ellsmoor. 2019. “United States Spend Ten Times More On Fossil Fuel Subsidies Than Education”. Forbes, June 15, 2019.

10. Clayton and Dietz. “Fact Sheet: Fossil Fuel Subsidies: A Closer Look at Tax Breaks and Societal Costs.” 

11. Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, art. 1, sec. 27. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/00/00.HTM

12. Franklin L. Kury. “Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment.” Conservation Advocate. https://conservationadvocate.org/pennsylvanias-environmental-rights-amendment/

13. Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, art. 1, sec 17. http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/RiConstitution/C01.html

14. Art English and John J. Carroll 2015. “State Constitutions and Environmental Bill of Rights.” The Book of the States. http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/system/files/English%20Carroll%202015.pdf

15. National Contingency Plan Pt. 300, App. E. 6.4.5 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2011-title40-vol28/pdf/CFR-2011-title40-vol28-part300.pdf

16. Jimmy Tobias. “’It’s my homeland’: the trailblazing Native lawmaker fighting fossil fuels”. The Guardian, May 15, 2019.

Bibliography:

Bureau of Land Management. “General Oil and Gas Leasing Instructions”. Bureau of Land Management. https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/oil-and-gas/leasing/general-leasing

Coleman, Clayton and Dietz, Emma. 2019. “Fact Sheet: Fossil Fuel Subsidies: A Closer Look at Tax Breaks and Societal Costs.” Environmental and Energy Study Institute, July 29, 2019. Edited by LaShier, Brian et al. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-fossil-fuel-subsidies-a-closer-look-at-tax-breaks-and-societal-costs#:~:text=Historically%2C%20subsidies%20granted%20to%20the,embedded%20within%20the%20tax%20code.

Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, art. 1, sec. 27. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/00/00.HTM

Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, art. 1, sec 17. http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/RiConstitution/C01.html

Ellsmoor, James. 2019. “United States Spend Ten Times More On Fossil Fuel Subsidies Than Education”. Forbes, June 15, 2019.

English, Art and Carroll, John J. 2015. “State Constitutions and Environmental Billl of Rights.” The Book of the States. http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/system/files/English%20Carroll%202015.pdf

Juliana v. United States, No. 18-36082 (2015). http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2020/01/17/18-36082.pdf

Kury, Franklin L. “Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment.” Conservation Advocate. https://conservationadvocate.org/pennsylvanias-environmental-rights-amendment/

National Contingency Plan Pt. 300, App. E. 6.4.5 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2011-title40-vol28/pdf/CFR-2011-title40-vol28-part300.pdf

The White House. 1965. “Restoring the Quality of Our Environment”. Report of the Environmental Pollution Panel President’s Science Advisory Committee, November 1965. https://ozonedepletiontheory.info/Papers/Revelle1965AtmosphericCarbonDioxide.pdf

Tobias, Jimmy. “’It’s my homeland’: the trailblazing Native lawmaker fighting fossil fuels”. The Guardian, May 15, 2019.

Tuckness, Alex. 2020. "Locke’s Political Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2020 Edition), edited by Edward N. Zalta. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/locke-political/