Oil companies, automakers and consumer products manufacturers will unleash a campaign for a U.S. tax on carbon dioxide emissions even though it may lead to higher prices for their products.
Oil companies BP and Royal Dutch Shell are giving $1 million each to the Americans for Carbon Dividends advocacy campaign, underwriting its efforts to persuade Congress to enact a carbon tax-and-dividend plan. And Ford Motor Co. is signing on as a founding member of the group developing its underlying initiative, the Climate Leadership Council.
Meanwhile, dozens of corporations, including Capital One Financial Corp., software company Salesforce.com Inc., and health care giant Kaiser Permanente, will be pleading with Congress for a carbon tax. Leaders of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., consumer products maker DSM North America and Nature’s Path Foods Inc. are set to appear at a news conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill before meeting with lawmakers on the issue.
Fossil fuel companies have been shifting their position on climate change in response to pressure from investors and growing public alarm about Earth’s rising temperature. And economists have long favored a carbon tax as a simple, predictable approach to putting a price on the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.
“Shareholders, younger Americans and Americans who live in coastal communities who are especially exposed to climate change are demanding action by government and also by leading corporations,” said former representative Carlos Curbelo, a Republican from Florida who sponsored a carbon tax bill before losing his House seat in 2018. “American companies want predictability and sustainability — and this is the most efficient way of reducing carbon emissions while protecting economic growth.”
Even so, the efforts face headwinds on Capitol Hill, where Republicans have repeatedly voted against the very concept of a new tax on carbon dioxide. During a May 15 House Ways and Means Committee hearing on climate change, Texas Republican Kevin Brady summed up his position: “We believe a carbon tax is not the solution to address our environmental challenges.”
ht/ joe 6 pak
Established businesses will always, or at least generally, favor govt intervention to raise costs for competitive entry into their markets. Their own costs for the regulation will be proportionally lower than the same costs for a startup.
There are more plans for redistribution of wealth than we can keep track of. What a crock of shit!
“Under the plan, carbon tax revenue would be redistributed to households in the form of quarterly dividend checks — an idea endorsed by economists as a way to help poor and middle-income Americans, insulating them from higher energy costs.”
It creates a barrier to entry and benefits these large corporations’ economies of scale.
It’s enough of a feat to effectively manage a profitable business. Managing burdensome taxes and government regs adversely impacts smaller operators much more than a Fortune 100 company with a fleet of fancy accountants and tax attorneys.
Think of the scale of managing the tax requirements of running businesses in all these states with different city, county and state taxes.
Throw in environmental concerns for coal, oil and gas, etc. It’s bananas.
Of course, many corps believe in Alligator Diplomacy. First, we can virtue signal about how much we care about the planet. Then, we can steer legislation that benefits us over others. Then, we leverage the government to hold our competitors accountable.
Then take tax credits. See how many have Energy in their names.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meet-the-18-companies-that-paid-no-taxes-over-8-years/
Follow the money!
A carbon tax would allow energy companies to boost consumer prices under the guise of saving the earth. Call it Pass-Through Plus.
Maybe the day will come where complaining about gas prices is regarded as hate speech.
If tax revenues just go back (redistributed) to the public how does this do anything to save the earth?
Short answer: They don’t pay it. We do.
They know they can do things without serious blowback. While people will complain, say bad things about them and maybe even pound on their table, they will continue to use their products. Facebook, Twitter and Google rely on this very fact.
The Chamber of Commerce/Multinational Corporation Axis is no friend to Free Trade, Democracy or Nationalism. When these entities are clamoring for the yoke of government, Fascism can’t be far behind. Even Sandy is figuring out that government control, not ownership, of the means of production is preferable. That way, when something goes wrong, the dictator can still blame the billionaires.
I work in a food plant. Every day is a regulatory compliance nightmare. USDA, MPI, FDA, and AVI all have offices on-site. NO ONE without SUBSTANTIAL financial backing could even CONSIDER entering this business.
Petroleum is even WORSE due to DECADES of watermelons that are TRYING to strangle them with regulations. Ain’t no such thing as a petroleum start-up even POSSIBLE.
And they like it that way.
…also, they can blame profit problems on Govenment, put relatives in high-sounding, high-paying, but essentially useless roles like “VP Of Regulatory Compliance” with the REAL work being done lower, and have an excuse to participate in incestuous corruptothons with high-level government officials that “regulate” them.
Also, if the Govenment keeps them in a regulatory straight jacket, they have an excuse for not innovating or improving. No thought required, just collect big money and blame Congress if anyone asks why you don’t seem to be doing anything.
…no down side for the CEO, as long as he don’t care about anything beyond his paycheck, none at all…
Being a business owner does not automatically make a person conservative or trustworthy.
Liberals love capitalism only up to the point that it makes them lots of money.
Give them half a chance and they will not only destroy the economy that made them rich but they’ll gladly destroy the company as well.
It’s about the money. The VP of my division told me back in the early day’s of “carbon tax” talk that our company would net several million dollars by selling it’s carbon credits without changing anything the company does.
Follow the money, each and every time.
Eventually you hit the tipping point and everything just collapses.
(As we saw with the Soviets when the people just gave up trying to obey and quit paying attention to the ruling dictates and laws they were living under.)
Taxes are not paid by corporations. They are paid by customers. They get to virtue signal to their more stupid stockholders for no cost.
They love a carbon tax because they get to run all the money through their fingers, not surprisingly a good percentage would disappear or given out to groups on the left and prostitutes, the rest would be wasted.