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Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
11–20 of 139 posts
Re: Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
#12A phased-in revenue-neutral carbon tax of $30/ton would increase electricity rates in (most of) the US by < 10%. And could lower income taxes (or if not revenue neutral) reduce the debt. What's not to like?
If it's revenue neutral and lowering income taxes, where would the big `victims' be?
The answer used to be "aluminum smelters" (aluminum, aka "frozen electricity").
Interestingly, the aluminum smelters in the mountains behind Portland closed down when the datacenters moved in and bought all the cheap hydro electricity they used to use.
My guess is that a tax increase on electricity will hit the Google/Facebook/Amazon/Apple/Microsoft and other "cloud businesses" pretty hard...
Re: Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
#13A phased-in revenue-neutral carbon tax of $30/ton would increase electricity rates in (most of) the US by < 10%. And could lower income taxes (or if not revenue neutral) reduce the debt. What's not to like?
If it's revenue neutral and lowering income taxes, where would the big `victims' be?
The poor and lower middle class who effectively pay no income taxes already.
Re: Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
#14Not that I disagree (in fact I strongly agree), but is Musk really the person we should be taking this from? It's a bit like taking investment advice from your bank, meseems. Not necessarily a bad idea, but you might want to hear with people who don't have an active interest in the placement of your money first.
Well, your barber is an expert on hair.
Re: Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
#15Not just a carbon tax, but a system of well thought out taxes that cover the negative externalities of every part of pollution so that the market can efficiently allocate investments. For example, most people don't know that coal causes more radiation damage to humans than nuclear. Why is this? Because coal gets released right into the atmosphere, while spent fuel rods get stored away from human contact.
I know that there are political realities that prevent all of the taxes that should be in effect from coming into effect, but those political realities can change once the issue is reframed. Every dollar of pollution tax could, for example, be directed at lowering the income tax rate. This can make the proposal much more tenable to voters and the more right wing side of the intelligentsia that pushes for changes in government policy.
Re: Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
#16Not that I disagree (in fact I strongly agree), but is Musk really the person we should be taking this from? It's a bit like taking investment advice from your bank, meseems. Not necessarily a bad idea, but you might want to hear with people who don't have an active interest in the placement of your money first.
It would help Tesla and SolarCity, but hurt SpaceX.
Re: Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
#17> "This approach already occurs, Musk said, citing how taxes are higher on cigarettes and alcohol than fruits and vegetables"
This is a good point, but generally discouraging the use of cigarettes or alcohol through taxation only effects people who consume those products. If you raise the tax on carbon, that cost could be passed on by businesses in unexpected ways. If the cost of me shipping vegetables across the country goes up by 2%, I'm just going to increase what I charge for shipping by at least 2% and the cost could well be passed on directly to consumers. Eventually I might be outcompeted by someone who has a fleet of electric trucks. Maybe, at some point. But until that happens, people could end up paying slightly more than they do now for essentials.
Maybe this effect is covered in the policy details or by the term "revenue neutral". Either way a carbon tax is probably a good idea, but the chain of cause and effect isn't so clear.
Re: Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
#18Not that I disagree (in fact I strongly agree), but is Musk really the person we should be taking this from? It's a bit like taking investment advice from your bank, meseems. Not necessarily a bad idea, but you might want to hear with people who don't have an active interest in the placement of your money first.
Aren't there significant carbon emissions released during the production of a Tesla car and its components?
Re: Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
#19Oh cool, a billionaire pushing a tax that will hurt the poor while he gets to make money helping millionaires avoid it.
Re: Elon Musk: Only a Carbon Tax Will Accelerate the World's Exit from Fossil Fuels
#20A phased-in revenue-neutral carbon tax of $30/ton would increase electricity rates in (most of) the US by < 10%. And could lower income taxes (or if not revenue neutral) reduce the debt. What's not to like?
The fact that a 10% increase in electricity costs is probably going disproportionately affect the poor?