I have been pilloried in the comments section of this blog before for my support for a carbon tax. It is not because I believe in catastrophic AGW that I support a carbon tax, but because it would help reduce air pollution and could be used to lower income tax rates. Turns out that British Columbia has already gone this route. As opposed to disastrous cap and trade schemes proposed by Democrats or California's horrendous AB32 that targets specific sources of power, this tax is technology agnostic, allowing the free market to influence the best way to reduce carbon based power consumption, whether through conservation, shifting to natural gas or some other means. But best of all the economy has not been harmed, because our northern neighbors on the left coast have used the proceeds to, drum roll please, reduce income taxes for individuals and corporations. I believe that the burning of carbon based fuels is the primary source of air pollution in the world and reducing those emissions is a worthy goal. The effects on the British Columbia economy of the Carbon tax, implemented in 2008, appear to have been minimal. I believe this is because it was used to offset income taxes. The tax is simple and easy to administer, and has been implemented in a predictable manner; unlike recent tax code changes in the United States. The U.S. income tax is a nightmare of complexity and pork barrel politics. Reducing our federal government's dependency on it, by replacing it with what is essentially a consumption tax also seems like a worthy outcome.
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