Carbon Tax

[Sy123]

A carbon tax has been introduced into Australia for quite some time now, and many of the big mining companies say that their prices are going up because of it, but the government disagrees. Its a debate that has been going on for quite some time in Australia. And next to nobody wants the carbon tax in Australia.

But because nobody really cares about Australia on this forum:

Would the Carbon Tax be a good idea for America? (or in general?)

 

[khz]

Long story short, depends on if you believe in global warming.

 

[Metal Bagon]

Long story short, depends on if you believe in global warming.

...which has been scientifically proven.

 

[Relados]

...which has been scientifically proven.

...but not directly proven as a cause of any emissions of ours (see also: Milankovitch Cycles).

 

[Stratos]

global warming's scientific "proof" is incredibly sketchy. Many dissenting scientists say that they have been ostracized and gagged by the "consensus" in the IPCC

 

[Trax]

A carbon tax has been introduced into Australia for quite some time now, and many of the big mining companies say that their prices are going up because of it, but the government disagrees. Its a debate that has been going on for quite some time in Australia. And next to nobody wants the carbon tax in Australia.

The mining boom is actually a big problem for the Australian economy because it will end some time (that's the nature of booms), but it's been allowed to grow out of control. The hope I have is that the carbon tax is raising prices on mining companies and hopefully slowing the boom down rather than having it drop the fuck off when China stops wanting to buy iron at the current obscene rate.

There are still a lot of mining projects in the pipeline mind you.

But because nobody really cares about Australia on this forum:

Except, you know, the Australians.

global warming's scientific "proof" is incredibly sketchy. Many dissenting scientists say that they have been ostracized and gagged by the "consensus" in the IPCC

Literally no scientific body worth a fuck argues against climate change, even the petroleum geologists (who stand to lose a lot of work if people really cut back on carbon) take a neutral stance.

The only dissenting scientists of any real note are from other fields of science rather than climate.

 

[Aura Guardian]

Last year, one of my classes assigned a debate on Cap-and-Trade or not; I was on the not side. We rapidly changed it to Carbon Tax versus Cap-and-Trade, though. Considering a relative lack of sufficiently viable alternatives, the debate ended - despite appearances otherwise - with almost everyone agreeing that Carbon Tax is among the best options to reduce emissions. I don't have the data handy, so you'll have to take my word for it, sorry. But, having done a fair bit of research, I would have to say that yes, Carbon Tax would be good for America, and possibly in general. Except possibly economically, judging by the debate referenced. Still, it is a price that I think would be worth the possible results.

TL;DR: my answer to OP's question of Carbon Tax good for America or not = yes, it's good.

 

[Vintage Books]

ugh. I love that most of the reasoning for not having carbon tax (other than climate change not existing) is "It only harms ourselves, and puts us in a worse position in regards to the global economy, our emissions are nothing compared to China or India, and no one is going to follow suit because no one gives a fuck about us"

Tbh if you were apart of a group of people bashing up someone, but thought it was wrong, would you stop, or continue because you know no one else would follow and it wouldn't really make a difference?

Tbh, I really like the carbon tax in Australia, and in my opinion it shows we are one of the most forward countries (or at least trying to be) in regards to the environment.

In regards to America, yes. America has a few things that Australia doesn't, 1. More carbon emissions 2. more global influence.

America introducing a carbon tax would mean a lot of countries would follow, which is a good thing.

my facts are all probably wrong but LOL idc helping the environment is good !

But

 

[Hipmonlee]

When the carbon tax was discussed here, it was opposed by the right because it was an 'everything tax'. Then as soon as they got elected they raised GST (sales tax).

A carbon tax is by far the simplest method of implementing a carbon restriction policy, all other versions are just carbon taxes hidden behind complicated nonsense.

I am not sure if a carbon tax on imports would have issues with our free trade agreements, in particular with Malaysia..

The issue I have with global warming science, is not whether we are the cause, as far as I can tell that is extremely likely, its whether or not the agreed upon (but not yet implemented) cuts to emissions will have any impact. I havent really seen any science related to that. Though, I havent looked all that hard.

However, reforestation and reduction of reliance on oil are good for many reasons that go beyond climate change. So I like the idea.

 

[Adamant Zoroark]

Guys! Carbon tax! We exhale CO2! DON'T BREATHE! I'm joking.

To be honest, I kind of have mixed feelings. One one side, I'm thinking "global warming is a natural process, this won't do anything about that", but on the other, I'm thinking "we DO need to lower our dependence on oil, we're gonna run out of it eventually".

This may force us to find alternatives to oil, but I find it unlikely that it will have any noticeable effect on global warming. There's also the other possibility of "people just put up with the tax", but if it comes to America.... Yeah, we'll see about that.

 

[No Luck Involved]

A carbon tax would effectively self cripple a country's economy and nobody wants to do that. I didn't even know Australia implemented it, it's a very brave move. Will have to read up on that!

For practical reasons I can't see China doing it, and if China doesn't do it then I can't see America embracing it anytime soon either. Unless everyone agrees to implement the same carbon tax at the same time, I just don't see it happening because cheap fuel is so essential in being competitive.

I like the idea and I hope the world can ween itself off fossil fuels eventually. Oil production capacity in the world has already peaked around the year 2000 and we can see that from the massive increases in prices over the last decade as oil becomes harder and harder to extract. Prices will keep increasing into the future so we cannot depend on it and there needs to be big changes in society in reaction to this (transport, manufacturing, and all the products that come from oil!). There is research going on to determine alternatives but a tax incentive would accelerate these and help us better adapt.

There is plenty of coal to go around though so we can rely on that for cheap power for quite a few hundred years yet. The major bad thing about coal is carbon dioxide emissions, which is quite likely to be contributing to changing global temperatures and ocean acidification in time. We don't actually know how severe climate change will be, and whether it will have much effect on us at all. Hence why governments are generally doing nothing about it and nobody really cares that much.

If carbon dioxide really is a huge problem for mankind then a carbon tax makes a lot of sense, and being less dependent on fossil fuels makes a lot of sense too whoever you are; but I think the truth is, policy makers are simply too lazy or are not convinced enough about the effects of climate change to make that drastic a leap in policy.

 

[Thorns]

i seriously couldn't believe people were actually opposing the carbon tax in australia because the fact remains we are the best (maybe new zealand is better) country to live in the world and we enjoy a strong economy, and it is OUR responsibility to take care of our environment. communism failed because its leaders didn't acknowledge economic reality (and they were turdburgers) and capitalism will inevitably fail when its leaders don't acknowledge ecological reality (they are still turdburgers)

 

[shinyskarmory]

Three reasons a carbon tax would be great for America off the top of my head:

EXHIBIT A: Americans are not simply going to stop driving their gas-guzzling SUVs just because you put a tax on Carbon.

EXHIBIT B: We have a giant national debt to pay off, and no clear way to do it.

EXHIBIT C: Taking care of the planet is a good thing. Even people who don't believe in global warming think the planet should not be horrifically polluted.

I don't see a real drawback other then raising taxes. But the money from a tax like this could go to so many things...like paying off the national debt or fixing our shitty infrastructure.

EDIT: Didn't see Thorns' image until now. lol