Thirty years ago, on this day, February 17, 1993 , new President Bill Clinton gave his state of the union address and said an energy tax was in the cards…
“Our plan does include a broad-based tax on energy, and I want to tell you why I selected this and why I think it’s a good idea. I recommend that we adopt a Btu tax on the heat content of energy as the best way to provide us with revenue to lower the deficit because it also combats pollution, promotes energy efficiency, promotes the independence, economically, of this country as well as helping to reduce the debt, and because it does not discriminate against any area. Unlike a carbon tax, that’s not too hard on the coal States; unlike a gas tax, that’s not too tough on people who drive a long way to work; unlike an ad valorem tax, it doesn’t increase just when the price of an energy source goes up. And it is environmentally responsible. It will help us in the future as well as in the present with the deficit.”
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton%27s_First_State_of_the_Union_Address
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 357.4ppm. As of 2023 it is 419ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was
Vice President Al Gore had been switched onto the climate problem while studying at Harvard (Roger Revelle had taught him). He had had a book called “Earth in the Balance” come out while he was on the campaign trail. He thought you could raise money to reduce the government deficit while also cutting emissions….
What I think we can learn from this
War game the heck out of your proposal, with red team and blue team and all that…
What happened next
Resistance from the “energy lobby” (who knew?!) Brutally successful opposition too.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?41041-1/republican-leaders-btu-tax
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Do comment on this post.
References and see also
Erlandson, D. (1994) The Btu Tax Experience: What Happened and Why It Happened. Pace Envtl. L. Rev. 173 (1994-1995) Vol. 12, no 1.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1528&context=pelr