"End fossil fuel subsidies," economists urge
Twenty renowned economists from across Dutch universities, including professor Reyer Gerlagh, professor Sjak Smulders and professor Daan van Soest from Tilburg University, jointly call on the government to end fossil fuel subsidies as quickly as possible.
Tax breaks for big polluters must end, better today than tomorrow. With this message, twenty scientists call on the Dutch government for urgent action in a joint opinion piece published by Het Financieele Dagblad and ESB.
Fossil fuel subsidies represent the most extreme inconsistency in government policy to date, the economists write. “It’s like turning on the air conditioning and the heater simultaneously—it’s completely pointless and it brings us nothing but high costs.”
Among the authors of the opinion piece are Tilburg University professors Reyer Gerlagh, Sjak Smulders and Daan van Soest. For decades, they have been conducting important research on the economic aspects of climate change and effective environmental policy.
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