Al Gore Says Carbon Tax Best Choice
by John Laumer, Philadelphia 
on 03.21.08
As a not-running-for President guy, Al's in a position to be logical about the best public policy to drive climate action: a carbon tax. No Democratic candidate can come out for a carbon tax because he or she would be attacked for being a "tax and spend liberal." And no Republican candidate can come out of the carbon tax closet because...you know...tax cuts.
So, cap and trade it is. Unless, we want to wait until 2009 in hopes that the lobbying power of industries with big carbon footprints will be miraculously reduced in the 2008 election.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday that adopting a carbon tax is one of the best things governments can do to fight climate change."I know this sounds like a bigger idea than the political system can accommodate," Gore said during a Web cast discussion with Cisco Systems Chairman and CEO John Chambers. Gore said he is convinced that reducing taxes on businesses and employees -- and replacing the lost revenue with pollution taxes, principally a carbon tax -- is the way to go.
But, as we all know, Big Foot lives on. So...Cap and Trade, I guess.
Via::Greentech Media, "Al Gore Backs Carbon Tax" Image credit::Current, "Biggest carbon footprint on the planet belongs..."
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There is a school of thought that this whole global warming issue is a hoax foisted upon the populace in order to raise taxes. This was one of the coldest winters on record for north america. I don't necessarily believe this wholesale, but it is somethig to consider.
I don't trust Al Gore.
There are very real environmental problems facing humans right now.
I firmly believe we can solve them without taxing ourselves for simply going about our daily lives.
The takeaway message from this post should be "we need to change what gets taxed". Gore is proposing, as most economists do, that we lower some taxes and raise (or create) others, to incentivise conservation and "green" innovation. The end result would hopefully be no increase in the overall tax burden on society.
A tax like this is counterproductive ... instead of taxing carbon, we should be incentivizing companies, universities and individuals with tax breaks or credits to produce carbon reducing or carbon eliminating technology and services. We pay too many taxes now and the government is best when it enables.
I'm not smart enough to know whether it's a good idea or not, but this article quite irresponsible leaves out the fact that Gore proposes to do away with the payroll tax in exchange for the carbon tax.
And to the earlier poster - we have an unbelievably huge deficit - any candidate that claims they won't have to raise taxes is lying.
And as for the "school of thought" that says global warming is a hoax, do your research. the overwhelming majority of climate scientists accept that it is real and man-made.
Science is about studies and facts, not about your observation that we had one cold winter (global warming/climate change doesn't mean every single day will be warmer everywhere on the planet) or a few articles you read that make you think this issue is still unsettled.
I'll trust the people who have spent their lives studying climate over the scattered "facts" (last winter was cold! parts of Antartica are getting more ice!) put out as disinformation by vested interests