Our economy is based almost solely on carbon energy forms that are already getting pricey on a historical basis. MMGW advocates want to add a tax on top of already pricey energy forms. This is an economy buster.  If you have checked your bills lately they are likely biting more out than they did only 2 years ago. The commodities price push has made the effective inflation rate MUCH much bigger than represented by government figures. Any tax on top would be an real mistake.  Natural market forces are doing what they do much better than governments.  We should let them work. The carbon tax method is the stick. Â
Since the market is already doing what maniacal crazy MMGW religion adherents want there is only marginal effect to be had by taxing carbon. Thus the only real method left is the carrot method. Guarantee in writing that any commerce based on non-carbon methods will be tax free for 100 years.  If you really think that MMGW is happening then you will have to agree its worth doing. If you only want to do a power grab under the guise of MMGW you will not.Â
I think this method will be much more effective and much more fun.  We’ll get to watch the socialists scream. Taxes are much more dear to their hearts than MMGW ever will be.
There are many good reasons to steer gently away from petroleum. Its getting more expensive. The market is telling us its getting more scarce. It powers several dictatorships. Big cities are smoggy. They could be much nicer to live in without the fudge in the air. But remember GENTLY steer away…..GENTLY! Or you’ll put us all in the poor house and you’ll find out how secondary Americans view this issue. When push comes to shove humans are capitalists first and foremost because it pays better. In fact there is no other system aside from capitalism.  Socialism / communism are illusions that very bad people use to sell a twisted form of government. They are just creations of a marketing machine.Â
P.S. If you look at the comments you’ll see a note about me “calling names”. This guy thinks I am the irrational one because I believe that taxation is market distorting. Meanwhile he believes in MMGW! Talk about irrational ! There is no substitute for thought in my brain.  But then this guy thinks taxes, and therefore by proxy coercion,  is good.  So what can you expect of him? The kind of limited thought that issues forth from this kind of thinking doesn’t impress anyone.  Carbon taxes are bad.Â
If you really believe Mr Dan then give the businesses a tax free period of 100 years after development of non-carbon energy technologies. Put your money where your mouth is. If MMGW is not a power grab then lets make it about enhancing the technology and not about the taxes. But then his email address had carbontax.org in it. Thus the “my wife is nurse we need more healthcare” argument may apply here.Â
 And on a final note I do not consider using the term communist or socialist to be a name calling process. Since I’m an engineer with a brain that is a critical thinking idea shredder the most important thing is to effectively classify an idea. If the term for that classification has a negative connotation I can not be held responsible.  I guess if communism, socialism and coercion were more favored they wouldn’t have such a negative connotation. But then if I could do the kind of effective PR that that would require would I be bothering to tell you the truth ? Nah, I’d be making up crap and getting you to eat it like the people at carbontax.scam.Â
1 Comment
Perhaps you should take a look at the Carbon Tax Center web site before characterizing carbon tax advocacy as socialism or communism. Or, perhaps you find name calling to be a good substitute for reason. If you look at the web site, take a look at the list of supporters an d you’ll find conservative economists who recognize that a carbon tax is totally consistent in reliance on market forces. Spend a couple more minutes on the web site and you’ll find that carbon tax advocates are proposing a revenue neutral tax. The goal is to tax pollution rather than productive work.
“Steering gently” is a good idea. That’s why we advocate a gradually increasing carbon tax. The idea is to give individuals and businesses time to adapt through new technology and modified operations.