Proponents of Carbon Tax Prepare to Move Forward

by Rob Roper

Back in 2014, Rep. Tony Klein (D-East Montpelier) said about passing a Carbon Tax in Vermont, “I think it’s at least a three-year process.” He also said, “It won’t be [in 2016], because you don’t do that in an election year.” So, three years after 2014, and not in election year 2016 means… Next year! 2017. (E&E publishing, 12/3/14)

Not coincidentally, the Carbon Tax legislation advocated for by Energy Independent Vermont, the VPIRG led coalition that is working full time to win passage of a Carbon Tax, calls for implementation in 2018, which would require passage of a Carbon Tax law in the 2017 legislative session.

The tax would ultimately mean an additional 88¢ per gallon of gasoline, a $1.02 per gallon increase in home heating fuel, and similar costs associated with diesel, natural gas, aviation gasoline, kerosene, propane and butane.

Continuing what has so far been a two year process, Klein’s Committee on Natural Resources & Energy laid some heavy ground work this week and last, taking testimony and soliciting marketing advice from a conga-line of left-wing business types and activists.

(Here’s VIDEO of about six hours of testimony condensed into less than five minutes. It’s very enlightening. Don’t skip it!)

The clear theme that emerges is that these activists are not going to go away until they get their Carbon Tax. They think it is inevitable, and, in time, they will wear down a weary public into accepting it…. Just, after the election….

According to an EAI member who contacted his own legislator to ask how he would vote on a carbon tax, he received a quick response by email, “I’ll eat my shoe if there’s a Carbon Tax brought to the floor this year!” To which our member replied, “I’m not asking about this year, I’m asking about next year.” The answer to that one…. Crickets.


 

TAKE THE SURVEY:

Should Vermont legislators enact a Carbon Tax in 2017,

after this November’s elections? 

CLICK HERE.

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Nancy April 5, 2016 at 7:16 pm

Heck no! Never! Not one penny!

Reply

Charles Root April 6, 2016 at 1:04 pm

Yet people will vote Tony back in to office this November. You can partially blame the Republican party here in Vermont for not loudly, and by name publicly, excoriating these legislators in radio and TV ads.

A simple TV ad, Played in black and white, showing abandon homes and empty store fronts (which there is many of now here in Vermont) people shooting up heroin and headlines about lost jobs and citizen emigration to other states. Toss in some juicy headline overlays about corruption (even if the facts about the corruption haven’t been fully vetted yet) and have the voice over saying “Vermont is losing people, losing businesses and losing money. Government corruption is creeping in and Vermont is one of the highest taxed states in the nation. Yet representatives like Tony Klein want to concentrate on non-problems that will make Vermont even more economically oppressive to live in”

We need to destroy these peoples political careers, make sure they NEVER have a say in how the state is run again. It’s time to take the kid gloves off.

Reply

John McClaughry April 9, 2016 at 7:40 pm

Bravo! If I were living in Klein’s district (and 50 years younger) I would be out leafleting the voters right now until they are at white heat about Klein peddling a tax on gasoline, diesel,, heating oil and propane – pointing out that if they elect me instead, I’ll go to the Statehouse and work every waking hour to kill the carbon tax before Klein’s pals get their hooks on the $500 million in new revenues to spend.

Reply

Wade Warner April 7, 2016 at 3:16 pm

If that bill passes I am immediately putting my house up for sale and my wife and I are putting in job transfers to NH.

Reply

John McClaughry April 9, 2016 at 7:41 pm

By then you’ll probably get less than half what it’s worth.

Reply

Mike Powers April 8, 2016 at 11:12 pm

When is the Vermont electorate going to loudly and forcefully tell their representatives in Montpelier to cease the never ending social engineering. Vermonters have a hard enough time making ends meet without laying on additional fees and taxes which further erode their already challenged income. Look at the number of residents on or eligible for Medicaid. Over one third of the state population. Enough of this pie in the sky feel good laws that put the state residents farther and farther behind. It’s time the legislators started working for the good of the electorate rather than pushing their hopeless social agrendas. Throw them out of office!!!

Reply

Ellen April 9, 2016 at 1:01 pm

It isn’t like the regular working stiffs in the state haven’t been screaming at the top of our lungs that enough is enough! Yet we go unheard as it is apparent Montpelier has it’s own agenda,which has nothing to do with the rest of us(especially the workers and property owners),except of course our wallets…what will they do when all those nearly empty wallets leave the state because this is no way to live? Seems the only way to live okay in Vermont is to be on disability or to be a heroin addict getting drugged by the state with Methadone…how sad for us…

Reply

Amanda Gilman-Bogie April 10, 2016 at 4:39 pm

I understand the desire to encourage the use of cleaner energy and to protect the Earth for future generations. That said, this proposed legislation is NOT the way to do that.

The carbon tax would disproportionately impact poorer and more rural families (not everyone can run out and buy an electric or hybrid vehicle, nor do they all have access to charging stations and the like in their local communities). It is incredibly unethical for politicians with the luxury of financial stability to make decisions that will gravely impact the socioeconomic climate for other families who may be struggling. What are we going to do when our friends and neighbors can no longer afford to drive to work, school or even to the grocery store (remember for some families these are not short distances) or are unable to heat their homes? A few winters ago when oil prices were quite high families all across the state struggled and heating oil assistance was exhausted long before the cold temps lifted – have we so quickly forgotten and dismissed those hardships?

Not to mention that this proposal is not revenue neutral so the claims that Vermonters will be getting these extra costs back through savings in other areas are quite disingenuous (in truth somewhere between 10 – 20% of the revenue generated is up for grabs and we all know once politicians in Montpelier see any money it’ll be spent for the next 5 years +).

I consider myself quite committed to protecting the Earth. Our family is trying to reduce our carbon footprint. We recycle and are planning on building a compost system this summer. We grow a good deal of our own food and drive moderately fuel efficient vehicles. I know many other families with similar values who do the same. Vermonters are trying to make a difference but these efforts are not being recognized and encouraged. Instead, we have politicians who strive to tax all Vermonters into submission. Do we really have to wonder why so many young professionals and their families are leaving the state for greener pastures?

Reply

jim bulmer April 12, 2016 at 1:46 pm

Tony Klein is a COWARD!!!!! Why not pass this outrageous carbon tax rip off in an election year???? You will be able to learn just how much Vermonters support this insanity come November!!!!!

Reply

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post:

About Us

The Ethan Allen Institute is Vermont’s free-market public policy research and education organization. Founded in 1993, we are one of fifty-plus similar but independent state-level, public policy organizations around the country which exchange ideas and information through the State Policy Network.
Read more...

Latest News

VT Left Wing Media Bias Unmasks Itself

July 24, 2020 By Rob Roper Dave Gram was a long time reporter for the Associated Press, is currently the host of what’s billed on WDEV as a...

Using Guns for Self Defense – 3 Recent Examples

July 24, 2020 By John McClaughry  The Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal last week published eleven news stories about citizens using a firearm to stop a crime. Here are...

FERC ruling on solar subsidies could help Vermont ratepayers

July 21, 2020 By John McClaughry Last Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finalized its updates to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), in what the majority...

The Moderate Left’s Stand for Free Speech

July 17, 2020 By David Flemming Harper’s Magazine, a long-running monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, is hardly what you would call a ‘politically...

Trump’s Regulatory Bill of Rights

July 16, 2020 by John McClaughry “President Trump [last May] issued an executive order entitled  ‘Regulatory Relief to Support Economic Recovery.’ The executive order includes a regulatory bill...

Video