This new French carbon tax was scheduled to go into law on Jan1, 2010. The tax was steep: 17 euros per ton of carbon dioxide (USD $24.40). In a stunning move, and surely a blow to warmists everywhere, the tax has been found unconstitutional and thrown out. Originally found here (Google Translation).
Lord Monckton was kind enough to assist me in deciphering the meaning of the ruling and writes:
In France, if at least 60 Deputies of the House and 60 Senators appeal to the Constitutional Council, it has the power to pronounce on the constitutionality of a proposed law – in the present case, the 2010 national budget of France, which contained enabling provisions (loi deferee) for a carbon levy. The Council found that these enabling provisions were unconstitutional on two grounds: that the exemptions contained within the provisions for a carbon levy vitiated the primary declared purpose of the levy, to combat carbon emissions and hence “global warming”; and that the exemptions would cause the levy to fall disproportionately on gasoline and heating oils and not on other carbon emissions, thereby breaching the principle that taxation should be evenly and fairly borne.
The Press release from the French Constitutional Council is here in English (Google Translated) and in original French
Here’s a Deustch-Welle news article on the reversal.
France’s Constitutional Council says the country’s proposed carbon tax is illegal. This is a severe blow to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to fight climate change.
France’s Constitutional Council has struck down a carbon tax that was planned to take effect on January 1st. The council, which ensures the constitutionality of French legislation, said too many polluters were exempted in the measure and the tax burden was not fairly distributed.
It was estimated that 93 percent of industrial emissions outside of fuel use, including the emissions of more than 1,000 of France’s top polluting industrial sites, would be exempt from the tax, which would have charged 17 euros per ton of emitted carbon dioxide.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has argued the tax is necessary to combat climate change and reduce the country’s dependence on oil.
However, the council’s ruling is a severe blow to both Sarkozy’s environmental plan as well as France’s budget for 2010. The government now has to find a way to come up with about 4.1 billion euros in revenue that was expected from the tax.
h/t to WUWT reader Dirk H
Sponsored IT training links:
Pass 642-436 exam in first try using 642-642 practice questions & 640-553 answers.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
To the carbon tax: “Now go away, or I will taunt you a second time” 8^]
REPLY: [ Moderator will now take an unplanned giggle break 😉
-mod ]
First real domino to fall?
.
.
Rationality!
Seems to me that tax rate was more than a little excessive… according to the EPA site, a gallon of gasoline creates 8.8 kg (19.4 lbs) of CO2, using round numbers it takes about 100 gallons to make that ton… that is an instant tax of about $20/100 = 20 cents per gallon of gas.
I know gas is already expensive in Europe, but that’s a lot more $$$ for no return.
Vive la France!
Boo Hoo :)…
I’ll raise a glass of Chateau Margaux to that!
Never thought I’d say this – vive la France!
God bless the French for seeing the light of reason. Plant trees. Don’t tax the people to death. Tea Party America!
Que Dieu bénisse les Français pour voir la lumière de la raison. Planter des arbres. Ne pas taxer les gens à la mort. Tea Party America!
Bwahahahahaha!
Chris
Norfolk, VA, USA
Well done France (you have no idea how hard it is for an Englishman to say that).
And a very happy New Year to you Mr Watts and to all your team and readers.
Sacre bleu! Well done!
The French are already paying about (USD) $7 per gallon of gas, about 70% of which is already tax. Since it takes roughly 100 gallons to create a ton of CO2, the added tax would hardly be seen. Fill up with 20 gallons and the cost would increase from $140 to $144. This must be a real hard blow right to the center of the forehead of the French alarmists.
Je suis tres heureux !!
Bonne annee !
Bear in mind that the tax may return with the “problems” removed. But this is a considerable blow to the AGW movement, esp. on the heels of Copenhagen.
Also never forget that France does a lot to maintain peace, order, and whatever freedom exists in its former colonies at considerable cost and with no thanks from anyone. These are places no other nation (including the US) cares about. So let us recognize and appreciate that.
Thank the Lord! My family and I have always considered living in France,now we shall sell up -lstock and barrel- and arrive on her beautiful shores!`
Let me get my LOL!!!!!! in here!
Jim,
I do believe [url=http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/ets_assumes_room_temperature/]this may have been the first domino to fall[/url], let’s see how may more fall now, hopefully then it will look like this…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgtekdw1eyo&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Great news, there’s still a 4c per litre carbon tax on diesel and petrol here in Ireland though :\
Off topic, wired’s latest issue has a story about a study of researchers “Accept Defeat: The Neuroscience of Screwing Up” that might help explain the AGW heavyweight’s behaviour: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_accept_defeat/
“The scientists had these elaborate theories about what was supposed to happen,” Dunbar says. “But the results kept contradicting their theories. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to spend a month on a project and then just discard all their data because the data didn’t make sense.”
Awful to waste a month, but 25-30 years would be unbearable.
ok not sure if my last post went through, so I’ll try without the double links and change it a little 🙂
To Jim,
I do believe that the ETS, which was basically a carbon tax, was defeated in
Australia earlier this month, so I think this French one would be the second one to fall, hopefully this will be the first of many dominoes to fall, like this….
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgtekdw1eyo&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
OK my bad, if I had of scrolled up I would have seen that it did in fact go through he he
OK, I’m not the first, (h/t to ManbearPig (22:02:58) : ) but I second that: viva la france! viva les francaise! Les Chaudierres, aux lanternes!
President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted that it was just a tax. He said ” We have taxed labour, we have taxed capital, now is the time to tax energy”. The tax is needed to balance the budget. It was supposed to be agreed on by all countries of the world so that no country was disadvantaged compared to another which did not implement the tax. Global warming, climate change, the IPCC and all the charade.
The German link leads to the image only.
This is the link to the article.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5069767,00.html
REPLY: Fixed thanks -A
Merci bien mes amis et bonne année.
We live in bizarre times.
It seems that a straight CO2 tax would be OK for the law makers. A head tax , we exhale 1/2 ton CO2 a year.
It seems that the ones proposing the law assume that taxation will reduce pollution, while they have the clear example in comparing US and european prices, where we pay per liter what US pays per gallon, that cars and congestion are equally bad over the two sides of the atlantic. People will pay for their car transport through the nose as they would pay for a head tax: it is a matter of life and death I suppose.
If CO2 is a pollutant, neither taxation nor, much worse, open markets will reduce it . In the first case the government gets richer in the second Al Gore et al , that is all.
Rationing might do it. But then no money is made by anybody.