taxes
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Higher gasoline taxes to boost efficiency would be ‘a mistake’
I couldn’t agree more with PEBO on Meet the Press Sunday: New gasoline taxes aren’t the way to boost energy efficiency. Remember, European gas taxes have long been more than $2 a gallon higher than ours, and as of 2002, the average fuel economy of European Union vehicles was 37 miles per gallon, which is […]
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Dear media,
Today Obama’s people confirmed that your fake story from yesterday is in fact fake. Better luck next time.
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Bizarre gap year in residential conservation tax incentives
I was doing some research in preparation for upgrading my attic insulation, and what do I find? That, in its wisdom, Congress has decided that home weatherization is a good idea that needs incentives for 2006, 2007, and 2009 … but not 2008. That’s right. The feds want you to delay energy-conserving, pollution-reducing, job-creating home […]
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My robo-call from Gingrich
Here’s the call I got this morning, loosely paraphrased, initially from a live person and then with a recording from Newt. Newt (paraphrased): “I’m calling business leaders like yourself who understand the way that taxes cripple our economy, to ask for your support in the development a flat tax structure to lower the cost on […]
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Why should we assume that a carbon tax will be simple and transparent?
I keep hearing that a carbon tax is obviously superior to a cap-and-trade system because it is “simpler and more transparent.” This has always struck me as a classic case of petitio principii — Latin for starting your argument on third base and boasting about your batting skills. Would a carbon tax proposed and implemented […]
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An ideological breakthrough on feed-in tariffs in Britain
In a startling reversal, Britain’s Labour government has put on the table a feed-in tariff proposal for “microgeneration.” The proposed feed-in tariffs will pay homeowners, farmers, and community groups for the electricity they generate with renewable energy. The move represents an ideological breakthrough. Long an ardent supporter of Renewable Obligation Certificate trading systems and plain […]
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We need a price-floor on fossil fuels
As oil prices tumble — now hovering around $65 per barrel — there is growing concern that some of the momentum that was building for renewable energy may be waning. This situation highlights one of the key constraints that we face in moving to a low-carbon society: uncertainty in fossil-fuel prices depresses investments in alternative […]
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How modern cities made themselves livable
Financial deregulation has obviously been a disaster. Perhaps we are entering a new era, one in which it is acceptable to talk about the positive actions that governments can take. A friend of mine, Bryn Barnard, has written about how government first stepped in to provide a minimally healthy environment — in a chapter about […]
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The economic crisis should prompt more green infrastructure spending, not less
I’m no expert in macroeconomics. You probably aren’t either. But there’s a battle over macroeconomics shaping up, and everyone keen on shifting the U.S. toward sustainability has a vested interest in how it turns out. (Which is why I keep writing about it.) The question is how to react to the financial crisis and what […]
