Pirate's Cove

Hey, why not? Obama and his Democrat henchmen have already done great damage to the economy, why not kick it up a notch?

(Think Progress) In a sense, the problem of climate change is incredibly simple: certain people are dumping carbon into the atmosphere, and in the coming decades we will all suffer from the effects of that pollution. That, in turn, suggests a simple fix: make the emitters pay for that damage in the here and now. If they don’t want to pay, they won’t emit.

That’s the basic theory behind the American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act, which Sen. Sheldon WhiteHouse (D-RI) introduced on Wednesday, along with his co-sponsor Brian Schatz (D-HI).

According to details Whitehouse’s office released to reporters, the bill would impose a fee on all carbon emissions (and other greenhouse gas emissions) beginning in 2015. It would start at $42 per metric ton, and then increase by two percent annually in real terms. The fee would fall on all coal, oil, and natural gas that’s either produced in the United States or imported, and it would cover large emitters from non-fossil-fuel sources as well.

This is all about the free market, you guys

In his speech Wednesday, Whitehouse pointed to this support and previous proposals to put a price on emissions that “were market-based, revenue-neutral tools, aligned with Republican free-market values.”

Really? This is free market? Do I even need to explain the notion that the government instituting a “fee”, setting its price, and then dictating that the fee cost rise 2% annually is the opposite of free market?

But, wait, who does Jeff Ross, writing at Joe Romm’s George Soros funded Climate Progress think will be paying?

By placing a cost on emissions, a carbon fee would encourage every company, institution, and individual to find the least expensive and most effective reductions that work for them. And the diversity and extent of these reductions can go far beyond less use of fossil fuels; it can be changes in daily routines, business models, more use of public transportation, changes to infrastructure, new technology innovations, and on and on. No large or expansive regulation is necessary: just track the emissions, charge the emitters, and let the market do the rest. (Whitehouse’s bill is only 29 pages.)

That’s right, it looks like this would effect each and every citizen, business, and private entity. Of course, Mr. Ross thinks that this fails to go far enough in sticking it to the American people, and wants the fees to rise in cost faster. Furthermore, he thinks much of the money should be refunded back to citizens. Of course, this is not just an economic issue, but a moral one

What the price of carbon emissions should be is ultimately an ethical question as much as an economic one.

See? This jibes nicely with the talking point (which I discussed yesterday) which Warmists are using more and more in which they position this as a moral issue. Just not enough to get Warmists to practice what they preach in their own lives.

The press release from Whitehouse is here, along with a link to the legislation. Whitehouse acknowledges that each and every citizen will be nailed with his carbon tax, be it directly or because the “big polluters” will have to raise their prices, and “promises” that money will be returned to them.

BTW, when will Sheldon Whitehouse give up his own fossil fueled travel? His footprint has to be pretty darned big, what with all his flights from Rhode Island to D.C., Florida, California, and so on.

The U.S. Department of Treasury would assess and collect the fee..

Oh, good, the IRS being even more intrusive in our lives. Feel better?

The legislation requires carbon capture methods. Which do not yet exist. And, of course, this creates all sorts of redistribution of the money (starting on page 24 of the PDF legislation).