The White House said Americans should pay higher taxes to ensure a rapid green transition away from fossil fuels in a report on President Joe Biden’s economic record.
The federal government can encourage such a shift through carbon taxes or a cap and trade system forcing an emissions limit on companies, said the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) report released last week. [bold, links added]
The White House added that consumers would continue purchasing “artificially inexpensive, carbon-intensive goods” without proper government policies in place.
“Such carbon prices could be implemented directly via carbon taxes, indirectly through a cap on emissions and tradable permits, or through other similar policy tools,” the CEA said in the report.
“Government revenues from the carbon price can be used to compensate consumers for increases in energy prices or to invest in other societal priorities.”
“Carbon prices are just one of many policy measures needed to cost-effectively accelerate the energy transition,” the CEA continued.
Under a carbon tax, the government would require energy providers to pay a price for every ton of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
The costs would then get passed along to consumers who would be forced to pay more for energy.
A “cap and trade” system creates a limit for how much greenhouse gas companies can emit. If a company goes over the limit, they would be fined or they could purchase credits from a company that was below the limit.
“Complementary policies can make it cheaper or easier to conserve energy or to shift away from carbon-intensive products,” the White House economic report added.
Just 44% of Americans support a carbon tax while 29% oppose the policy, a 2019 Associated Press survey showed.
But 80% of respondents said they backed tougher restrictions on power plant emissions and 73% supported a tax on corporate emissions, according to a June 2020 poll by Pew Research.
However, voters in the State of Washington — a majority-liberal state — rejected a carbon tax in 2016 and 2018 referenda. Nearly 60% of Washington voters rejected the measure in 2016 while more than 56% voted against it two years later.
Read rest at Daily Caller
OK, instead of a cumbersome, inefficient big government program, why not let the free market & your citizenry dictate our entry into an energy transition? A few ideas for starters: 1.) A public service series on conservation & energy imperatives. Americans need to fully understand realistic energy alternatives, NOT the continuing “Green Bilge.” 2.) If you are going to eliminate tax incentives (intangible drilling, depletion allowances) on oil & gas production, then ALL subsidies to wind & solar should be eliminated (as well). If renewables are competitive, then they will PROVE IT in a fair (and level) marketplace. Further, DISCONTINUE “favored status” of renewables & let those electric generating sources pay “full freight” for transmission & reliability issues on the grid. 3.) Redirect R & D into modular nuclear & expediting FUSION, not old technologies like wind & solar that will NEVER scale up to meet increased electric demand, let alone find the needed battery storage to support that effort, Complete WASTE of money.4.) Let AUTOMAKERS & CONSUMERS decide if EV’s have the broadest application in the domestic car market. Incentivize improvements in mileage & emissions on ICE vehicles. You might be surprised what an offer of a $500 million tax credit to the first automaker to design an engine with 50% less emissions & 30%+ better gas mileage might generate. INNOVATION lies in the private sector, NOT government directive. That’s just the low hanging fruit. Until this Administration realizes their “Green Transition” is nothing more than a PIPE DREAM, we will continue to waste money & resources chasing the “net zero rainbow.” Time to GET REAL… .
And once again Biden continues to further ride the Democrat Jackass into the edge of the Canyon
I’ll continue to point out that one of the three original goals that started the global warming movement was the desire for new and increased taxes. Biden’s proposed tax on carbon dioxide emission is a fulfillment of that goal.
Americans are already suffering from staggering increases in fuel costs impacting the most valuable the most. Now Biden wants to make this even worse with a “carbon tax.”
The increase cost of energy and fossil fuels isn’t the only but is a major contributor to inflation. The official inflation is 8.5%, but this is due to creative accounting. If calculated the same way as it was in 1980, our inflation rate would be 17%, the highest in US history. There is a lot more to this than the cost of gas. Plastic which are used in everything such as i-phones, automobiles, and appliances come from oil. All most all fertilizer is made from natural gas. Most the fabric in the clothes that we wear today comes from oil. The metals uses in cars and appliances require a lot of energy to be extracted from their minerals. Aluminum requires a great deal of energy and due to its lighter weight is in higher demand in automobiles. All of these items require energy to manufacture. The higher cost of energy for transport and doing business is passed on consumers. Biden has already done a great deal of harm and he wants to make matters even worse.
I need to add that we can tell when surveys are bogus. The article stated that 44% of Americans support a carbon tax according to the Associated Press survey. Many polls of shown that the average American family is unwilling to spend more than $10 a month to fight climate change. In addition, the article stated that in the very liberal state of Washington two ballot measures for a tax on carbon dioxide emissions failed by large margins.
So how soon will all of Washington D.C. go Wind or Solar power? when soon will they all be driving E.V. and how soon will they move the National Capital farther inland?