While Democrats have been using their convention this week to make the case that presidential nominee Joe Biden can be all things to all people, the Democratic National Committee quietly dropped language calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies and tax breaks from its party platform.
On July 27, officials added an amendment to the Manager’s Mark, a ledger of party demands voted on as one omnibus package, stating: “Democrats support eliminating tax breaks and subsidies for fossil fuels, and will fight to defend and extend tax incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy.”
The amendment was approved. But the statement ― which reflects pledges Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, each made on the campaign trail ― disappeared from the final draft of the party platform circulated Monday.
In an emailed statement, a DNC spokesperson said the amendment was “incorrectly included in the Manager’s Mark” and taken out “after the error was discovered.”
Democrats remain split on fossil fuels even as scientists say keeping the Earth’s climate from changing beyond recognition depends on rapidly reducing the use of oil, gas and coal over the next decade. The party depicts itself as champions against global warming, drawing contrasts with Republicans who question the very nature of climate science. But party officials have long feared that a hard-line stance against the industry jeopardized both donations and votes in fossil fuel-producing states such as Pennsylvania and Texas.
It’s difficult to know exactly how much the United States spends every year supporting fossil fuel production. Conservative estimates put the total for state and federal incentives at roughly $20 billion per year. An International Monetary Fund study published last year pegged the figure at $649 billion in 2015 alone. Roughly half of all U.S. oil reserves required subsidies to generate a profit, according to a study published in the journal Nature Energy in 2017, and that was before the price of crude plunged far below $50 a barrel. | 
