As the novel coronavirus pandemic wears on, debate is brewing over how long the associated shutdowns should last. The New York Times’ Donald McNeil has covered epidemics for close to two decades and reported recently on why American society could continue to be disrupted by COVID-19 for the next two years. He joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the epidemiological and medical realities of COVID-19.
Former President Richard Nixon celebrated the first Earth Day in 1970 by planting a tree on the White House South Lawn. An enormous turnout of some 20 million people across the country attended Earth Day festivities, putting the fight against pollution on the political agenda.
The tension in America between the national government and states' rights is as old as the republic itself. That tension is about to play out in a starkly political way and on a grand scale over the next several weeks, as states consider how to reopen in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
President Trump seems to be itching for states to reopen — frankly, faster than his own administration's guidelines recommend.
Environmental science books rarely make best seller lists. But in 1962, Rachel Carson’s nonfiction book Silent Spring became an incredible exception to this rule, and is now given credit for helping launch the EPA and the first celebration of Earth Day in 1970.
Rachel Carson was a marine biologist and nature writer—her 1951 book The Sea Around Us became a national bestseller and won a National Book Award. She was also an early believer in the dangers of pesticides, which were developed thanks to military-funded science research after World War II.
I was thinking what would be the most effective, job creating tax proposal out there. I think it would be a carbon tax.
Right now, America does not tax fossil fuels based on their carbon content. President Bill Clinton once proposed taxing carbon using a “BTU tax” but the idea never really got off the ground. But that was 25 years ago, and if anything the climate crisis has gotten more urgent. At the same time, the tax code has gotten more complicated, picking winners and losers without much of a sense of fairness.
I really like the idea of a national carbon tax. Individuals and most businesses would not pay the carbon tax — the only businesses who would pay a carbon tax would be those who extract or import carbon products into America. Certainly it would be an expense to owners of coal mines and oil and gas wells — but those are a small fraction of the American economy. While it would mean consumers would pay higher gas prices and more for heating fuel — it could be offset by growing the economy by eliminating taxes on investing and saving.
I suggest the carbon tax be used to cut taxes on businesses and investors. One of the taxes which has bothered me to no end is the tax on capital gains and on most interest-bearing investments. It just doesn’t seem right that after working hard, and paying taxes — and doing the right thing to invest money into growing the economy — I should be hit with another round of taxes. Imagine if all investments were tax free, like municipal and most government bonds are. It would encourage millions of Americans to invest their money rather then spending it on consumption. Tax the fossil fuel-burning car, not the growth of the economy.
Tax-free investments would provide billions in new capital funding, rather then being blown on frivolous things like new cars or disposable toys. If people didn’t ever have to pay on investments, they would be much more likely to save for retirement or just a better tomorrow. And because investments would be tax-free, investors wouldn’t have to report their gains to governments. It would make taxation much simpler, as your taxing much fewer people — just the carbon fuel producers, and not the general economy.
A carbon tax would allow the government to replace the Clean Power Plant program with just a tax on carbon-rich fuels. It would discourage the use of the most-carbon intensive fuels, especially dirty coal. And as many of the most carbon-intensive industries are the most polluting, it could allow government to reduce the level of regulation on many polluters, especially if there was a dramatic drop on overall emissions over time when people move away from burning large quanities of coal and oil to make energy.
This is why support replacing the Capital Gains tax and the tax on interest-gaining investments with a Carbon Tax.
