Here they go again. Demagogues
on talk radio and elsewhere who oppose lessening America's unwise
overdependence on fossil fuels are labeling the climate and energy bill
that was rolled out on May 12 a "gas tax."
By the critics' logic, any limit or cost placed on pollution is a tax.
In
this case, they are seizing on a section of the American Power Act that
imposes an upstream pollution fee on petroleum refiners—which is the
approach pushed by the oil industry as preferable to being part of a
cap-and-trade system.
Opponents of pricing pollution admit that
they are using the phony gas tax claim as a tactic to scare people into
opposing the legislation.
Marc Morano, who runs the climate
skeptic website "Climate Depot," recently bragged to E&E Daily
about the gas tax claim, saying, "I think in terms of a marketing point
of view, this is deadly effective and in terms of scaring politicians
in the midterm elections, doubly effective."
Claiming that fees,
penalties or any other costs imposed to clean up or discourage
pollution now equates to a downstream tax on the public is a dangerous
tactic that could reverse decades of bipartisan progress in reducing
pollution.
Under this new definition, emissions controls on cars, power plants, and factories that reduce smog are a tax.
Treatment systems that keep raw sewage and industrial gunk out of our rivers and lakes are a tax.
The bill that you pay to have your garbage hauled away is a tax.
The money that BP must spend to clean up the big Gulf of Mexico oil spill is a tax.
If
any limit on pollution must be opposed as a tax, where would that lead
us? Who's up for bringing back the deadly smogs and burning rivers of
yesteryear?
Pollution limits, imposed through fees, emissions
standards, or other mechanisms, send a necessary price signal that
markets customarily don't send – pollution causes harm, that harm has
costs, and those costs should be paid by those who impose them on the
public.
What you won't hear from the demagogues is that doing
nothing to limit carbon pollution imposes costs. In 2006, China had 3
percent of the solar panel market. Today, China's share is 45 percent.
A recent Pew Charitable Trusts study found that China invested nearly
twice as much as the U.S. in renewable energy and biofuels last year.
The European Union invested more than twice as much.
As a
percentage of gross domestic product, Pew found that U.S. investments
in clean energy don't even crack the top 10. We're No. 11, behind
Mexico. That's right - Mexico.
Low-carbon energy sources are at
an unfair disadvantage in the energy market because fossil fuels can
use the atmosphere as a free garbage can for their carbon pollution.
Put
a price on carbon, and the low-carbon technologies will have a fighting
chance to compete, reduce pollution, and put Americans back to work.
