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Carbon vs Cap and Trade - taxes that will never go away
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When it comes to taxation, government has mastered the art of defining schemes and dependence on revenues from anything and everything it deems a sin; and taxes last a mighty long time. Recall how the income tax was supposed to be temporary. Now advocates are pushing a Cap and Trade system over a straight Carbon Tax. Either way, all carbon seems viewed like a mortal sin.
Truth is there are no mortal or venial energy sins, just sins of opportunity deemed by government to be taxed. Despite all the green rhetoric by government officials, the real purpose of the any energy tax legislation goes way beyond automotive technology, better mileage and clean air for all. It appears the law’s crafters want to create a new source of government control so it can increase revenues via taxation. Whether it's a straight tax or cap/trade, carbon is merely the excuse for the tax. The issue here is that the objects of the tax are always people and businesses.
In economic terms, a Carbon Tax or a Cap and Trade could kill the industrial growth of our economy which is already on its back; and that might mean the transfer of even more manufacturing jobs to the developing world. Aside from government’s loving stares at electric vehicles, the tax strategy could be a good intention by some, but with a strong dose of short-sightedness. It will certainly make conventional energy much more expensive, at a time when we have falling personal incomes, limited corporate profits and high unemployment.
All that talk to get us away from oil is partly a ruse. Sure, we need to get off of oil, but "peak oil" doesn't mean no oil at all, as if our wells are totally dry. Besides, there are plenty of ways to transform our country without taxation. How about giving people a tax break? Why not be positive, with government-revenue neutral approach? That won’t happen, and here’s why.
Whether we have a straight Carbon Tax or a Cap and Trade, the process of designing a new tax especially reflects a political end game, a massive scheme in socio-economic engineering. This one makes automotive technology look like a grade-school science project. The anti-carbon project really started when the green heads kidnapped the ultra-liberal wing of government to advance their fears of climate change, aside from the fact the planet has seen multiple climate changes long before man ever walked the earth.
Even if justified, that mantra is being used for political purposes beyond saving the planet. Can you say, "Opportunists?" The anti-carbon mantra gave certain liberal senators and congressmen a golden opportunity, a venue for government to get more control for their social programs. Perhaps that’s why Speaker Pelossi literally jumps out of her chair in giddy applause whenever President Obama speaks.
And maybe that’s just what the architects of these laws really want - total control. For sure we know they want to tax productive enterprises and ultimately make the bulk of our population dependent on their handouts. That not only makes people more compliant and easily controlled, it stimulates and feeds their main fetish – bigger government.
There is a time for every purpose; a time for government to act, and a time to get out of the way. When it came to monitoring the economic excesses that slammed the economy, the SEC and others surely obviously got out of the way. Did you ever ask why?
Now, Cap/Trade is going to be in your face and behind your back; a revenue and power grab by the government, making carbon taxation a form of civil war by other means. Truth is we will have taxation and plenty of it for decades to come. And perhaps that's why Cap/Trade is preferred by some, because it doesn't have the word "tax" in its header; meaning, it's hidden.
Now imagine a region that doesn’t have ample wind, hydroelectric or geothermal resources. It will be impossible to meet the base-load electricity needs of their region reliably and with cost effectiveness. Still, the advocates of Carbon Tax and Cap/Trade will drive the poorer regions toward brownouts and desperation, still envisioning a world full of ultra-long-life batteries which do not exist. They will also envision windmills and solar farms like Iowa has corn stalks, even in places where wind and solar rays may be minimal.
If you build it, the government will always come and tax it, regardless of how you name it. Perhaps that’s why the government pushes re-chargeable plug-in hybrids. Anti-carbon advocates know owners have to get their electrons from somewhere, and they will have to pay for it dearly. So, rather than seeing cheaper automotive expenses, expect higher costs. For sure, the replacement cost of Lithium-ion batteries alone will break the back of any man or woman with a job; let alone a person who doesn’t have one. Think total cost of transportation, not just kilowatt use.
Further expect to see the construction of a lot more natural gas-fired power plants in the coming years, although that is good in the eyes of T. Boone Pickens. However, they are more expensive than coal-fired plants, and more air polluting than nuclear plants which is the main power system in France.
Now here’s the irony: It’s not going to be coal which will be taxed out of existence. It will be us that depend on power, because all energy taxes, straight or Cap/Trade, will eventually be passed onto homeowners and consumers by businesses.
Examiner Final Comment
Unlike old soldiers, taxes do not die; neither do they fade away. So, don’t be fooled into thinking the Cap/Trade system or the Carbon Tax is only going to tax the dirty, coal-burning power plants for a season. Whatever becomes law will eventually tax the cleaner-burning, natural-gas power plants as well. Furthermore, it’s just a matter of time until the wind, the sun and the geo-thermal energy from the earth will be taxed, too.
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