Re:Carbon offsetting is just another form of greenwashing
by tzs on Monday August 08, 2022 @01:19PM
(#32388347)
> No. You make it revenue neutral by using the money to reduce other taxes (and make the 0% bracket wider) rather than introducing a distribution system. Why make it more complex than it needs to be?
That are two problems with that as opposed to just returning the carbon tax money to the general population with each person getting an equal share.
First, which other taxes would you reduce? In the US I'm almost certain that the list of taxes that Democrats would want to reduce would be different from the list of taxes that Republican would want to reduce.
Second, even if we can get agreement on which tax to reduce, the benefits to the individual taxpayers aren't likely to be proportional to, or even correlate well with, with how well they are personally doing on emissions.
For example, suppose it is done as an income tax reduction. People who don't make enough money to own income tax would not benefit, but they would have their costs of living go up from the increases in fuel and energy costs due to the carbon tax. They are in effect being taxed to subsidize the carbon emissions of wealthier people.
That are two problems with that as opposed to just returning the carbon tax money to the general population with each person getting an equal share.
First, which other taxes would you reduce? In the US I'm almost certain that the list of taxes that Democrats would want to reduce would be different from the list of taxes that Republican would want to reduce.
Second, even if we can get agreement on which tax to reduce, the benefits to the individual taxpayers aren't likely to be proportional to, or even correlate well with, with how well they are personally doing on emissions.
For example, suppose it is done as an income tax reduction. People who don't make enough money to own income tax would not benefit, but they would have their costs of living go up from the increases in fuel and energy costs due to the carbon tax. They are in effect being taxed to subsidize the carbon emissions of wealthier people.