Article in Today's IJ. Pasted below and linked. Jeanne
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080709/OPINION02/807090308/1014/OPINION Sylvester's editorial is also today's lead off link listed on the nationwide Carbon Tax Center page. http://www.carbontax.org/ More local government support for the federal carbon tax July 9, 2008 Sylvester Johnson / Guest Column The Tompkins County Legislature passed a resolution on last month in support of a federal carbon tax-and-refund. To express clear support for the tax the legislators struck down a secondary provision that would have voiced the Legislature's support, with conditions, for the so-called “cap-and-auction” approach as an alternative if a carbon tax failed to pass at the federal level. Copies of the resolution are being forwarded to the county's state and federal representatives and the appropriate Senate and House committees. The county joins the City and Town of Ithaca in support of a federal carbon tax. The passage of these resolutions is the political equivalent of turning lead to gold, making a new tax more politically possible by publicizing its advantages over the covert tax, emissions trading. The county's resolution will be sent to the county's state and federal representatives and the appropriate Senate and House committees. The passage helps build the momentum of the “Initiative for resolutions by local governments in support of a federal carbon tax” (coordinated at www.federalcarbontax.org), inspiring advocates nationwide to work with other local governments to take action. The usage of a tax is different from cap-and-trade; it's simpler to administer applied upstream upon the first sale after extraction or import of the fossil fuel, with fewer entities being monitored. A tax is more effective because it is less readily abused and can be raised periodically to meet emissions reduction goals, also increasing the refund. Consumers would be motivated to reduce usage of fossil fuel energy due to increased cost from the tax, while the refund would alleviate some of the added costs the tax imposes on energy. The benefits of the refund to consumers and the economy would be so great that political pressure could be applied by consumer and business groups so that the government would make the refund. The giant polluters — such as coal-burning utilities — support cap-and-trade because they can negotiate volume offset packages more cheaply and because increasing prices mean larger profits and dividends, paid for by consumers. Consumers will also pay the fees extracted by traders, brokers, attorneys and an entrenched bureaucracy. With a tax, the associated refund can support consumers, not stockholders. Tax-and-refund is more equitable than the covert tax of trading. A carbon tax is less expensive because it's simpler. A tax is better for the economy because of its consistency and especially with the majority of revenues refunded. A tax increases the value of projects such as alternative energy sources by increasing the cost of fossil fuels. A tax makes alternatives easier to invest in because returns on the investments can be estimated more accurately than under trading's increased energy cost variability. Emissions trading suffers from critical flaws that the European Union has experienced in its experiment with cap-and-trade. That experiment has been called a failure in part due to firms exporting responsibility to reduce emissions with the purchase of possibly questionable offsets from abroad, also worsening the balance of trade. Furthermore, escape clauses get written into the legislation for cap-and-trade that contradict the system's reason for being: to lower the cap on emissions. One variation of an escape clause is the maximum permit “stop” price; another is the borrowing of permits from future years. Cap-trade is a Rube Goldberg machine with many linkages to go wrong. Climate change has no escape clause. For this fire to sputter and go out, we have to stop fanning it. Assertions about cap-and-trade's prospects for reducing emissions are based in theory rather than experience. Let's not put the Earth-critical process of reducing emissions into the hands of brokers. Further failure is not an option. A tax keeps it simpler, with greater reliability. If readers know anyone anyone in the nation who might work part time and short term with their city, town or county government to pass a resolution communicating the advantages of the tax-and-refund, a sample resolution, action plan and further information are available at www.federalcarbontax.org. Following this feasible method, as the number of resolutions that are passed grows, the increasing magnitude of the news will inspire the introduction of more resolutions, building momentum for a _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
