Obama Calls For Federal Carbon Tax

From Obama's "State Of The Nation" address:

But to truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy. So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.
Transcript

So, how does the 'market' place a cap on carbon pollution? By bowing to unaffordability. The role of Congress in ensuring that happens? Implementing that unaffordability via taxation.

And before you start arguing that what he really meant was "tax breaks", look at the flip side of the equation. Realistically, we're looking at increased taxation, either directly or indirectly, as a result of having to pay for the current fiscal imbalance, immediately or eventually. So a targeted "tax break", which causes your taxes to not rise as much, if you simply comply with whatever 'Carbon Mandates' are concocted, is the same thing as a direct tax: a penalty for non-compliance.

To everyone who, last year, said that that's exactly what one of Obama's primary purposes as a candidate was, as vetted by the 'global elite': I'm sorry if I doubted; I didn't think it would come this quickly.

More evidence of this. Looks like they're beginning by establishing a quota/measurement system, similar to the 'EU model':

AFP: Obama calls for carbon cap legislation

They can take carbon anything and blow it out their arse!

No way, no how.

Didn't Obama once say he would tax the coal industry to the point it would no longer be profitable for them to stay in business?

reply to post by stevegmu


Yes he did, and from what it sounded like in this State of the Union Address tonight he is planning on taking out the rich while he is at it.

reply to post by Hastobemoretolife


economy in trouble??? add a new tax!!!

next we will see him taxing the amount of energy our homes consume..

and i thought everyone with a brain has agreed that humans are not adding to the so called 'global warming' .. we have 8 years left with the messiah..

This dosnt make any sense to me...adding a tax on a decaying economy, yet taking out the rich? thats kinda like contradiction. Unless it wa all proppganda, about the rich, give everyone that warm feeling the guilty ones will compensate an equality.
I used to ehar all the time, as kid, form my dad, its the upper 1% that control everything. Without them, we wouldnt have an economy.
Yes he did say he'd go after the coal industryk it was one of his top prioritys. Maybe he realized like the oil industry, their kinda untouchable?
I saw an hbo thing abuot carbon tax, al gore ect. and its a scam, just by what i learned. Al gore started this.. how does taxing carbon, IF it was true it causes global warming, how does taxing it stop it? makes NO cents..
makes more sense to have envirnmently transporation available. aka the elctric car, no thanks to GM, the ones they did make back in 1998 were all bought back and destroyed, by GM.

Considering America is a large producer of coal and other high emission mining industries I don't think this is a good idea, not good for America anyway. Good for some EU nations and maybe Japan but the US is a major resource producer. Base materials along with agriculture are some of the few export industries America has left. Unlike manufactoring you can't outsource resource rich mines or arable land for growing crops.

Big rip-off!!!

I thought global warming was debunked when solar warming was found to correlate?

Just a point, water vapor contributes up to 70% to the greenhouse effect. Are we going to tax states with the most clouds?

reply to post by Ian McLean


Are you people REALLY so blinded by your distrust of government?

We are already paying for the cost of burning carbon through healthcare costs, environmental remediation, and going to war in the Middle East - you don't really want to argue that point, do you?...... these are called externalities.

A tax on carbon would bring the market price of carbon fuels into line with what they are really costing us, and would cause alternative energies to be more cost-competitive. This would quicken the transition to our country being independent in its energy production (a good thing, eh?).

And I'm sorry, but most climate scientist and studies in PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS (the source of REAL scientific data) state that humans ARE contributing to a unnatural increase in carbon in the atmosphere and that IS contributing to an unnatural climate change as well as the acidification of our oceans (which will ultimately kill off fish that a huge proportion of humanity rely on as a primary food source).

Wake up people! Stop letting your distrust in government blind you to the fact that some things that come out of their mouths ARE TRUE!!!

Originally posted by troos1
A tax on carbon would bring the market price of carbon fuels into line with what they are really costing us, and would cause alternative energies to be more cost-competitive. This would quicken the transition to our country being independent in its energy production (a good thing, eh?).

Finally, somebody got it right instead of spewing another dosage of govt distrust.

Not too different from tax on cigarettes, which I think are a good idea.

This will only encourage the out-sourcing of remaining American manufacturing industry to 'exempt' countries like China.

Do you really think large companies are simply going to accept these new regulations, and build the costs into the prices they charge, in order to make "the price match the environmental impact"? Or will they find ways to maintain their current profit margins?

They will simply avoid these regulations, using the never-questioned practice of low-tariff 'free trade' to move carbon consumption overseas, further eroding the American economic fundamentals, and costing American jobs.

reply to post by Ian McLean


Excellent point Ian.

Companies (large or small) either will not tolerate, or will not be able to withstand these taxes.

It will drive more jobs overseas and increase the cost of things that stay. Companies will not simply eat these taxes.

They get passed along to the consumer.