Should fossil fuel subsidies come to an end?

Gas prices are displayed as a motorcyclist pumps gas into his motorcycle at a Chevron gas station on March 1, 2013 in San Francisco, California. The California Board of Equalization voted on Thursday to implement a statewide excise tax on gasoline starting July 1 that will increase the tax by 3.5 cents to 39.5 cents per gallon.

This week, the International Monetary Fund is calling for countries around the world to halt their energy subsidies to encourage people to consume less energy. Critics reason that subsidy cuts would increase the cost of living for nearly everyone on the planet by raising fuel costs, and in turn transport and food prices.

Most of us here in Southern California keep a pretty close eye on gas prices, and though they may seem high at times, they're actually artificially low.

That's according to the International Monetary Fund, which this week released a report calling for countries around the world to stop "mis-pricing" fossil fuels and replace those subsidies with carbon taxes to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Joining me to explain how that would work is Amy Myers Jaffe, she's the executive director for energy and sustainability at UC Davis.