Obama to propose new EU style carbon emissions tax - AP

[Soul Crusher]

US energy chief (Steven Chu) floats idea of a carbon tax: NYT
AFP on Yahoo ^ | 2/12/09 | AFP

Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 3:53:28 PM by NormsRevenge

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Energy Secretary Steven Chu has floated the idea of a carbon emissions tax to fight global warming, in an interview with The New York Times Thursday.

During the US presidential campaign, the notion was kept largely on the back burner as candidates were reluctant to promote the idea of costlier energy at a time when gasoline prices were soaring.

But since President Barack Obama's administration took office in January, Congress has been working on setting up a system for swapping greenhouse gas emissions quotas similar to the one used in the European Union.

And Chu said "alternatives could emerge, including a tax on carbon emissions," the Times reported.

Chu, a Nobel laureate in physics, long concerned about global warming, acknowledged it would be a tough sell to get a law passed in the United States that could lead to higher energy prices.


(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...

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WORSE THAN CARTER BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hedgehog]

This would not actually lead to more money spent on gas per person IMHO.
It would only speed up the transformation of USA from a oil dependant country to totally independant (oil is the only resource USA needs to import, other than that USA completely independant).
More biodiesel cars,  hybrids and electric cars and more importantly - the infrastructure to support electric cars across the USA.
It could be done in literally a few years, giving USA an upper hand in energy talk.

[a_joker10]

This would not actually lead to more money spent on gas per person IMHO.
It would only speed up the transformation of USA from a oil dependant country to totally independant (oil is the only resource USA needs to import, other than that USA completely independant).
More biodiesel cars,  hybrids and electric cars and more importantly - the infrastructure to support electric cars across the USA.
It could be done in literally a few years, giving USA an upper hand in energy talk.

That is all well and good but the actual cost of electricity would increase far more than gasoline.

America generates most of electricity from coal.

This won't change and Obama is not a fan of nuclear power.

Which is the only realist way of generating the large increase in electricity that America requires.

That is because there are few ways of generating electricity that are as consistent for base loads as coal is.

Also he will have the added benefit of pissing of states like Pennsylvania where he ran against putting in carbon tax.

[Soul Crusher]

This would not actually lead to more money spent on gas per person IMHO.
It would only speed up the transformation of USA from a oil dependant country to totally independant (oil is the only resource USA needs to import, other than that USA completely independant).
More biodiesel cars,  hybrids and electric cars and more importantly - the infrastructure to support electric cars across the USA.
It could be done in literally a few years, giving USA an upper hand in energy talk.

You need nuclear power plants to provide sufficient energy for that.  

[Hedgehog]

You need nuclear power plants to provide sufficient energy for that.  

Last time I checked USA had nuclear power.
Just need to make sure all plants are top grade.
But what I really believe is the (near) future, is that more and more smaller communities or just farms have small efficient wind or water power plants that not only fuel their household but provide the local industries.
Delivering some energy that otherwise the nuclear plants would've had to put out.
Cheap energy is essential.
No way around it IMHO.   

[Soul Crusher]

Last time I checked USA had nuclear power.
Just need to make sure all plants are top grade.
But what I really believe is the (near) future, is that more and more smaller communities or just farms have small efficient wind or water power plants that not only fuel their household but provide the local industries.
Delivering some energy that otherwise the nuclear plants would've had to put out.
Cheap energy is essential.
No way around it IMHO.   

Wind is not going to work.  it is not reliable.  Nuclear power is the best answer and if you want to convert cars to being on the grid, we need more capacity and supply that is plentiful and reliable. 

[a_joker10]

Also wood is a disaster.
It has many problems that would be exacerbated especially particulate pollution and smog.

Large central combined cycle heating and power plants are the best.

It is even better if they use nuclear technology/

Many large former eastern block countries use this style of power.

But they don't have the same problems that Americans do with sharing.

[shootfighter1]

Nuclear power wasn't even mentioned in the stimulus. 

[Bindare_Dundat]

I heard that they'll implant us with mandatory anal, gas emission meter readers. The taxes they'll collect will go to paying down the debt.

[24KT]

{sigh}  I wish I could do what Neuro did in his 401k thread which was temporarily locked to keep trolling out.

I really enjoyed the way he quoted himself 1 year later, ...alas I am unable to do so because many of my statements have been deleted or sent into the Get Big blackhole. So since I can't do the mature thing about it, I'll just say


Neener, neener, neeeeeener
I told you it was coming. 

Seriously, the ramifications may go deeeper than that. People may turn to biodiesel more, however, that is an even worse polluter than gasoline. This, in addition to potentially impacting environmental pollution levels, could adversely affect food production. More and more land will be required to produce the nations fuels. The prices for fresh fruits and vegetables may soar, as there will be less land on which to produce those.

Many more states are adopting California's stricter emissions standards and manufacturers are facing tremendous challenges producing engine able to meet those. I already know of one manufacturer that has already shut down production of their engines because they are unable to bring them into compliance.