No, corporations can’t clean it all on their own!

Imposing stringent green regulations on corporations to eliminate fossil fuels from the economic system could lead to widespread corporate collapse.

While a few successful corporations might manage the costs of a green transition, many other businesses are merely surviving. They cannot absorb the additional expenses without significant financial strain and would face bankruptcy, leading to the loss of millions of jobs and widespread economic hardship.

Alternatively, allowing corporations to pass on these costs through price increases would lead to sharp rises in the prices of renewable energy, electric vehicles, food, and other essentials, disproportionately affecting those who cannot afford such increases, potentially triggering a political backlash and resulting in the reversal of green policies.

The frequently debated removal of subsidies for oil and coal corporations is problematic for a straightforward reason: these so-called subsidies are largely a matter of low tax rates.

Some obscure calculations by IMF officials estimate subsidies at 6.5% of world GDP[1] by factoring in the environmental impacts of hydrocarbons consumed by the public. Other similar questionable studies mix unrelated data and conclude that oil and coal corporations receive enormous subsidies.[2]

Eliminating these so-called “huge” subsidies would force oil and coal corporations to raise prices to maintain profitability, likely passing the additional tax burden on to consumers. If price ceilings were imposed alongside the removal of subsidies, these industries could face bankruptcy, resulting in significant disruptions due to shortages of coal and gasoline, which are critical for essential services such as food distribution and electricity supply.