Is the recent oil price crash good or bad for the environment? For years, environmentalists have been seeking carbon taxes and other measures to ratchet up oil prices to encourage us on to a clean-energy path. But some are now hailing the recent price crash as good for the environment, because it could fatally weaken big oil and its hold on the world's energy system. You could be forgiven for being confused. What gives? Oil prices have more than halved since last June, to just under $50 for a barrel of Brent crude, the industry's global benchmark. This is likely to increase the amount of oil burned as fuel, both because people are less careful with stuff that is cheap and because low fuel prices will stimulate economic activity. The price crash will also discourage investment in alternative sources of energy such as renewables. The oil glut shows no signs of easing, as major producers such as Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations are reluctant to pump less.
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