I wonder how enthused the NY Times Editorial Board members would be if the states they reside in initiated a carbon tax, which would hit them personally as well as their employer?
Washington State’s Ambitious Carbon Tax Proposal
Anybody hoping for a robust national discussion about climate change this election year has been sorely disappointed. But one state, Washington, has been having just such a debate, thanks to an ambitious ballot proposal that would impose a tax on carbon emissions.
The proposal, Initiative 732, started as a long-shot campaign by an economist and standup comedian, Yoram Bauman, but it has gained public support and become a viable effort. It would impose a tax on greenhouse gas emissions generated by fossil fuels like petroleum, gas and coal. The tax would start at $15 per metric ton next year, increase to $25 a ton in 2018 and then rise gradually over a few decades until it hits $100 a ton in 2016 dollars. (A typical passenger car emits about five metric tons of carbon dioxide in a year.) The money raised by the tax would go to lowering the state sales tax, effectively eliminating a business tax on manufacturers and giving up to $1,500 in tax credits to low-income residents.
They won’t admit it, but the reason Progressives love this type of carbon tax is because citizens will see their cost of living skyrocket, then see the helpful hand of government give them some money to offset the rise. Not enough to fully offset, mind you. Enough to make them more dependent on government, with government spinning a yarn that it wasn’t the fault of the carbon tax, but, those evil fossil fuels companies and such.
Of course, Warmist forces will say “eh, it’s not a lot of money. $125 in 2018 to Save The Planet? No biggie.” Of course, this ignores that every business seeing a rise will pass the costs on to the consumer.
Climate scientists and economists have long said that one of the best ways to fight climate change is to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions and raise that price over time, which would encourage the switch to cleaner energy sources, like solar and wind. The initiative’s approach is based on a carbon tax that British Columbia put in place in 2008. Ireland and Sweden also have such taxes.
Of course, greenhouse gases have increased in B.C. since 2010, as the great recession started to end. The B.C. gross domestic product has lagged behind the rest of Canada. The cost of living has gone up. Sweden? Do they even have an economy anymore? Ireland does well, though, because of their super-low corporate taxes.
Interestingly, the Washington State Democratic Party came out against Initiative 732, as did many Democratic voting organizations, mostly because it dares lower sales, personal, and corporate taxes. Apparently, they just want to hose citizens.
The last poll taken, back in July, has it as 52% for, 39% against, and 8% not sure. Hey, if the citizens of Washington want this, that’s on them. And there’s no whining when they get results they didn’t think would happen. Like higher costs of living, lower GDP, higher fuel and food costs, decreased employment, companies leaving the state, and so forth.
The money raised by the tax would go to lowering the state sales tax, effectively eliminating a business tax on manufacturers and giving up to $1,500 in tax credits to low-income residents.
And here you go again…..Once again the poor gets a credit and so who ends up being hit by this tax…….THE MIDDLE CLASS….that class the LEFT CONTINUALLY PRETENDS TO BE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS…..
What a crock of shit. The left has spent so much time swimming in that cesspool that now nothing that comes out of their mouth aint nothing but shit.
Whoever believes a democrat will “lower states sales tax” and “eliminate a business tax” raise your hand. I got a bridge to sell you, sucker.
BTW, I thought low income residents pay zero taxes so what tax credit can they get?
The Dems stated the law would reduce revenues $1 billion over 4 years, and other orgs opposed it for being “well intentioned but poorly written”.
Washington has one of the most regressive tax systems of the 50 states largely because they have no state income tax and rely on sales and local taxes to fund state gov’t.
I ALWAYS have to fact check Teach when you go with the skyrocketing hyperbole.
A 15 dollar carbon surcharge would raise gasoline prices by 14 cents per gallon
Really is that “skyrocketing”??? Is a 4% rise SKYROCKETING?
Maybe you have already forgotten when under Bush we paid $4.50 a gallon twice as much as we do now.
Companies leaving the state??? Teach how is that bathroom bill HB2 working out for NC?
Anyone spouting that raising taxes will “fix” a “problem” is delusional and retarded.
But you already knew that.
Right, retard?
Yet somehow you don’t fact check your own statements. Even when you do “fact check,” you get the facts wrong.
4% is almost 3 times the inflation rate john.
It is higher than the raises given to people on fixed incomes. It is higher that the raises given to the men and women in the military over the last 3 years.
So year, it’s “skyrocketing” and all you are doing is showing once again that liberals don’t care about anyone other than themselves.
And you conveniently forget that it got to that level when the housing bubble burst that was caused by Clinton and his policies. You also ‘forget’ that under your hero, Obama, that gas prices shot up to nearly that level again and stayed there for years. You also ‘forget’ that during Bush’s first few years gas prices were even lower than they are now.
Gas prices had nothing to do with politics….They had everything to do with CHINA…..Thats right….CHINA…during this time frame China was growing at a staggering 11-13 percent per year….they were sucking oil/natural gas/coal and gasoline off the market faster then it could be produced.
The only thing that has finally stablized gas prices is NOT FRACKING OR POLITICS….
It is the fact that the world is in an extremely slow growth, nearing recession and nearly every government now has been following the USA’s lead and is printing money and buying their own bonds…..
nearly every government now has been following the USA’s lead and is printing money and buying their own bonds…..
This was actually my idea although Im sure the FED had it on the table but just hadnt openly discussed it yet.
Over at the moderate voice in 2007 all those whacko far left loons were talking about how dire this was and how the USA was on the brink of extinction and how we were going to all be eating dirt in a year.
I calmly posted to them….This can all be easily solved by printing bonds and then buying our own bonds by the FED….
OH MY GAWD….they became unhinged….cause you see Bush was still finishing his term…..OH MY GAWD….I was the stupidest person on the planet…..This is just the kind of shit the right would pull to save Bush and their party…..
LOLOLOLOL….well 8 years later Obama and the FED are still printing bonds although the FED insists they are not buying back any more bonds which I dont believe…they are just using proxies to do it now….WHY>?
What idiot would buy our bonds when every country is now doing the same thing…and the interest on these is like 1 percent>?