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2005-05-05 Down Under

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Posted by Steve White 2005-05-05 12:08:01 AM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I'll bet Maurice Strong is laughing his bloody ass off... prolly the only thing we have in common.

Posted by .com 2005-05-05 01:34|| 2005-05-05 01:34|| Front Page Top

#2 Here Tranzi fools, tax this carbon.

Posted by Sock Puppet 0â Doom 2005-05-05 04:54|| 2005-05-05 04:54|| Front Page Top

#3 What is the government going to do with the money from the tax to reduce global warming?
*chirp*
Right, just what I thought.

Posted by Spot">Spot 2005-05-05 08:14|| 2005-05-05 08:14|| Front Page Top

#4 There is no ''money from the tax to reduce global warming'': ''It will be balanced by other tax changes so there is no net increase in government revenue''.

This is a neat little trick that punishes consumption but does not otherwise address the ''problem''. The lawmakers get a neat and tidy ''solution'' that makes them look proactive without having to get into gritty technical details. And the exempted companies have more reason than ever to drag their feet.

Posted by Tom 2005-05-05 09:12|| 2005-05-05 09:12|| Front Page Top

#5 What they should be doing is taxing all the sheep farts, for crying out loud. Didn't Dixie Lee Ray once assert that the hole in the ozone layer at the South pole was caused by too many damn sheep in NZ emitting methane in their flatulance?

Posted by Jack is Back!">Jack is Back! 2005-05-05 09:24|| 2005-05-05 09:24|| Front Page Top

#6 Compare the $11/tonne carbon tax with the $8/ton ($9/tonne) cost of Powder River Basin coal, the cheapest US coal. Nice to know that if implemented in the US, it would double many an electric power plants fuel costs.

Posted by ed 2005-05-05 10:45|| 2005-05-05 10:45|| Front Page Top

#7 So they tax carbon, now where does the revenue go? NZ's electric power is largely generated by hydro. The aluminium producers won't be affected because they get their power from hydro. Did the bureaucrats ever think of tax incentives for ''green'' power? Or something besides a tax?

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2005-05-05 11:20|| 2005-05-05 11:20|| Front Page Top

#8 That was NZ$11/tonne or US$8.40/tonne, still doubling the cost of coal in my example.

Posted by ed 2005-05-05 11:50|| 2005-05-05 11:50|| Front Page Top

#9 Mmm! A domestic carbon tax is really not a big deal. In NZ its effectively a tax on imported oil. Of far more significance is Kyoto 'carbon credits', a true tranzi tax, where developed countries have to pay 'developing' countries a tax to consume even domestically produced oil/gas/coal.

Posted by phil_b 2005-05-05 12:00|| 2005-05-05 12:00|| Front Page Top

#10 A domestic carbon tax is really not a big deal. In NZ And that's why this is a pretentious, obnoxious sham.

About what you'd expect from NZ these days.

Posted by anon 2005-05-05 13:25|| 2005-05-05 13:25|| Front Page Top

#11 1. I doubt this will sink the NZ economy
2. Its a market solution - the cost of emitting carbon goes up, and the MARKET chooses the alternative - in some cases alternative energy sources, in some cases less energy consumption, in some cases the market will decide its not worth changing to avoid the tax.
3. Its revenue neutral so some other tax goes down - since all other taxes have distortive effects on the economy that is an added bonus. Think about it - income tax is a tax on work and productivity - something wed like MORE of. C02 in the atmosphere is something we want LESS of. Better to tax what we want less of, and reduce taxes on what we want MORE of.
4. Of course if you think that more C02 in the atmosphere is a neutral thing, or even a positive good than this makes no sense. But thats a scientific argument, not an economic argument.

Posted by Liberalhawk 2005-05-05 15:34|| 2005-05-05 15:34|| Front Page Top

#12 Is there a fine for chopping down trees?

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-05-05 21:05|| 2005-05-05 21:05|| Front Page Top

#13 They have a lot of tree farms in NZ, Mrs. Davis. They used to have a bunch of kauri trees on the N island. Great hardwood, slow grower. I saw pics in a pub of them logging 8-ft dia ones out of the forest. Link here on kauri trees.

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2005-05-05 21:11|| 2005-05-05 21:11|| Front Page Top

#14 sounds like a Han Solo tie-in for the Star Wars opening...

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2005-05-05 21:22|| 2005-05-05 21:22|| Front Page Top

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