I don't believe that the county has the authority to enact such a tax on its own authority. New York is structured "top down". Local municipalities derive their authority by grant from the state. I was astonished to learn this when I first moved here from Maine, where it is the other way around.
In terms of political realism, you are probably right that a national carbon tax is not yet feasible. Is a state tax doable, or would it be regarded as in restraint of trade? To be doable at all, it has to be legally possible. Assuming that the state could enact a carbon tax, the right to do so could be delegated to a county that petitioned the legislature for authorization. Getting passage is not out of the question, since many from elsewhere would be more than happy for the Ithaca area to take the lead (and associated risks, which are not to be minimized). The strategy would then focus on convincing the county legislature to ask for permission to enact the tax. Joel At 12:13 PM 7/9/08 -0400, you wrote: > >On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:22:51 -0400 [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > The Tompkins County Legislature passed a resolution on last month in > > support of a federal carbon tax-and-refund > >A resolution is indeed a political step forward, but also is politically >cheap. Assuming that passing a carbon tax-and-refund at the federal level >in a timely fashion is politically unimaginable, what is to stop the >county from taking the next step, the concrete one of enacting a carbon >tax-and-refund at the county level? > >Those who are better informed of the current state of Tompkins Cty >politics may find this question naive, or at least premature, but isn't >this kind of local political control what relocalisation should be about? >If the refund part could be truly equitable, this seems like a political >organizing issue with good potential, not only for immediate political >education, but eventually, with enactment, for concretely changing the >slope of the local economic playing field, thus leveraging needed changes >in transport, housing patterns, and local production of food and other >necessities of life. > >To succeed politically, this kind of legislation must be conceived as >part of a gradual planned package whose enactment, putting horses before >carts, is chronologically astute. For example, before drastically >reducing car lanes in Paris, France by restricting some to rapid transit >public transportation, the mayor's first step was to invest in better >transit in outlying regions to ensure that everyone in the greater Paris >area had access to high-quality public transit (See Lester Brown's report >on cities around the world which are redesigning urban transport much >faster than Ithaca. >http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Seg/PB3ch10_ss3.htm ) > >Comments? > >Karl North >Northland Sheep Dairy, Freetown, New York USA > www.geocities.com/northsheep/ >"Mother Nature never farms without animals" - Albert Howard >"Pueblo que canta no morira" - Cuban saying > >____________________________________________________________ >Fabulous Spa Getaway! >Enter for your chance to WIN great beauty prizes everyday! >http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/JKFkuJi7Urp0h9v4LkLcBaiyY5FkQxVdebWiziITcKlZ9yw2pwXC5P/ >_______________________________________________ >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 _______________________________________________ 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
