Of course President Bush would never dream of such a plan to institute a carbon tax, but California is coming through anyways. The Golden state is going to cash in with a carbon tax slated to begin in the Bay Area as soon as the final vote occurs next month. This could possibly be a model for the entire nation.
From The San Jose Mercury News:
The fee - 4.2 cents per metric ton of carbon dioxide - would affect everything from oil refineries to power plants, and landfills, factories and small businesses like restaurants and bakeries.
The largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the Bay Area, the Shell oil refinery in Martinez, would pay $186,475 a year for its 4.4 million annual metric tons of emissions. The largest emitter in Santa Clara County, the Hanson Permanente Cement Plant in Cupertino, would pay $44,507 a year for its 1.05 million tons.
After years of voluntary measures, the fees, proposed this week by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, set a precedent as the first time that businesses and government agencies would face financial consequences for contributing to global warming. If successful, the fees could be copied all over the state and country, perhaps ultimately at much higher prices.
The higher the better I say. Companies must pay for their part in destroying the environment. These funds are necessary to fund clean energy and recycling programs in California and across the country. The industries that pollute the most claim that these taxes will only hurt the consumers, but consumers know that they hurt already from increasing prices based on the greed of industry, especially from the oil refineries. They know their time is limited, either by the fact that they use finite resources or the pressure from the public. Ultimately, I hope the public wins, before we all lose our planet.
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