On Sunday, the government of Australia announced that it will implement a US$24.74 per-metric-ton tax on carbon emissions. The damage the tax is expected to do to the energy sector there, and to the Australian economy generally, offers insight into what the effects of a carbon tax could look like in the United States. The plan will tax 500 of the nation’s largest polluters, and will redistribute some of the revenue in an effort to offset increased costs to energy producers and consumers – though significant economic damage is expected …
From his sprawling new $9 million ocean-view villa in Montecito, California, with its high ceilings, wine cellar, terraces, six fireplaces, five bedrooms, nine bathrooms, pool and 6,500 square feet of living space, former Vice President Al Gore is asking a favor of the American people. He’d like you to tighten your belt and shell out big time for higher electric bills, all in the name of fighting global warming. In a renewable electricity standard (RES) proposal now before Congress, those costs would be huge. A new Heritage Foundation study modeled …
Earlier this year, after Congress passed an increase in the debt ceiling, was deliberating over a trillion plus health care package, and the President’s Budget promised new record deficits, the American people started to see a worrisome trend that pushed fiscal responsibility to the forefront of the public’s priorities. President Obama responded by creating the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a bipartisan commission tasked with submitting a solution to the nation’s fiscal woes by the end of the year. Problem solved, right?
As the Obama administration makes it clear they want to pursue a carbon capping policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the French government announced that it would abandon plans to impose a similar carbon tax on domestic energy and transportation fuels. The reason for the French government’s change of tune is obvious. Sarkozy’s party knows that the carbon tax, which would have raised gasoline prices by 17 cents per gallon and domestic gas bills by 7 percent, would have significantly harmed the intra-continental and international competitiveness of French businesses and …
As the national average of gasoline creeps to three dollars a gallon, economists are warning that high gas prices in the United States could slow the economic recovery. Other countries’ economies are recovering more quickly and increased production and activity is putting upward pressure on oil prices. That coupled with a relatively weak US dollar spells trouble for American drivers. Throw in carbon dioxide cuts and gasoline prices could reach unprecedented levels: To meet the Obama administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, some researchers say, Americans may have to …
I’m not critical of cap-and-trade. But it has to be used in a targeted and disciplined way, and what has happened is it’s gotten out of control.” Those are the words of former Democratic Senator and current president of the United Nations Foundation Timothy Wirth, who also mentioned, “The Republicans are right — it’s a cap-and-tax bill.” Those are strong words coming from a man who served as a climate change negotiator for the Clinton administration and during his tenure in the Senate focused on environmental issues, particularly global climate …
In response to the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, GOP lawmakers Bob Inglis of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona are set to introduce carbon tax legislation. A carbon tax is a direct, more predictable tax on carbon emissions, but that does not make it any more acceptable. Proponents argue that it is better than a cap and trade because it will not unpredictably fluctuate with the ebbs and flows of the market as evidenced by Europe’s carbon trading problems. …
The reason cap-and-trade and carbon tax have been used interchangeably in the global warming debate is because they are essentially the same thing: a massive tax on energy. Although a more direct approach would be to tax carbon dioxide, it does not make it any more acceptable. But this tax is different because the revenue generated will be given back to the people, presumably. When has that happened? Can we honestly believe every dollar extracted from Americans from a cap-and-trade or a carbon tax will be given back in the …
During the 2009 Offshore Technology Conference yesterday a lengthy panel took place to discuss meeting America’s energy challenges in both the near and the long term. The list of the panelists can be found below. Although not everyone came out and said it, a number of the panelists concluded a price on carbon was necessary. Marvin Odum, President of Shell Oil, was the first to come out and say it. While he acknowledged it will cost energy prices to rise, he supported cap-and-trade legislation that would reduce carbon dioxide reduction. …
Cap and Trade Top Ten List 1. Cap and Trade Is a Massive Energy Tax 2. It Will Not Make A Substantive Impact on the Environment 3. It Will Kill Jobs 4. It Will Cause Electricity Bills and Gas Prices to Sharply Increase 5. It Will Outsource Manufacturing Jobs and Hurt Free Trade 6. It Will Make You Choose Between Energy, Groceries, Clothing or Haircuts. 7. It Will Be Highly Susceptible to Fraud and Corruption 8. It Will Hurt Senior Citizens, the Poor, and the Unemployed the Worst 9. It Will …
