Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Multi-billionaire Bill Gates is apparently OK with the idea of his domestic energy bills rising a little, if Washington State votes to approve a new carbon tax.
The 2018 bill ditches the concept of “revenue neutrality”, an attempt to protect poor people from the impact of energy price hikes. A similar bill in 2016 was defeated because of green left wing opposition to helping the poor.
Washington eyes nation’s first state carbon tax to combat global warming
“It could be a game-changer in the fight against climate change,” the executive director of the Sierra Club said.
Nov. 1, 2018 / 12:15 PM GMT+10
By James Rainey…
Initiative 1631 has inspired record spending, feisty debate and the intervention of powerful interests — from oil companies to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Two years after Washingtonians rejected a similar measure, an early-October poll showed the new carbon tax standing right at the majority needed for passage. In a Crosscut/Elway Poll completed Oct. 9, Initiative 1631 received support from 50 percent of those surveyed, with 36 percent opposed and 14 percent undecided. Among likely voters, the measure did even better, receiving 57 percent support. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 points
…
The state of Washington last voted on a carbon tax in 2016. But that measure differed in one important way from Initiative 1631. The earlier carbon tax would have been “revenue neutral” — giving residents back money raised with the carbon tax via a 1 percent cut in the sales tax and a tax credit to 460,000 of the poorest households in the state.
By keeping taxes level overall and not expanding government, backers of the 2016 measure — Initiative 732 — hoped to attract conservative voters. But a poll just before that election showed that the carbon tax drew support from only 19 percent of Republicans.
In seeking the middle path, the backers of the carbon tax lost not only conservatives but their more natural allies on the political left. Groups such as labor unions and Native American tribes complained that they felt left out of the planning, and even core environmental groups like Climate Solutions and the Sierra Club declined to back the measure.
…
Microsoft’s Gates, one of the top donors to the Yes on 1631 campaign, has said that it is not easy to be out in front on an issue. But, in his official endorsement of the measure, he said that leading the nation on taxing carbon pollution will make any sacrifice “worth it.”
The proponents of the measure have said it’s unclear what, if any, of the taxes levied on oil refineries and other polluters will be passed on to the public. A Seattle Times review of the measure found it initially could cost a suburban family with two cars about $240 a year, mostly from an increase in gas prices and in home cooling and heating expenses. The Washington Policy Center, a free-market think tank, found that the cost could climb to as much as $877 a year after 10 years.
…
Click here to see Bill Gates endorsement of the new bill.
From the Gates endorsement text;
… It is true that any fee like this may drive up the price of energy. But 1631 specifically requires that 35 percent of revenues from the fee will go back to low-income communities hit hard by pollution. Although that won’t ease the pain for everyone, it is a good step in the right direction.
If 1631 passes, it will create the first fee of its kind in the United States. Going first is never easy, but Washington has a history of pioneering new ideas. And because of all the benefits—shoring up nuclear and hydropower, enhancing the state’s role as a leader in innovation, and most of all accelerating progress on climate-change solutions—I believe it will be worth it. I am going to vote for it and, if you are eligible, hope you will too.
You couldn’t make it up – billionaires and left wing greens spitting the dummy because the 2016 attempt to introduce a punitive regressive energy tax would have used revenue raised from the tax to try to soften the impact on poor people, unlike the current 2018 plan to channel the tax revenue to green special interest groups.
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Yet another reason for those who actually pay taxes to leave WA.
I wonder, given the product his company is responsible for, and the amount of energy expended utilizing it, how he would feel if the taxes required him giving up 99.999999% of it to wealth redistribution schemes as well as 99% of all future annual profits
It’s Micro $oft, of course he would object. That would cut into his Micro$oft tax scheme. Need money? Throw another coat of polish on the turd and sell it again .
You’re showing your age, Micro$soft is at least 20 years old. Boring.
Little Chrissy is getting it’s panties in a wad because someone dares to criticize it’s religion.
How boring.
It may be old, it may be boring, but notice you didn’t say anything about it not being true.
And go to California? Seems WA and CA are in a competition to see which State will hit complete bottom with CA currently having the lead in poverty.
California could be the better of the 2 to live during the next ice age.
Central Washington University geology professor Nick Zentner discusses new research on dating the Ice Age Floods in the Pacific Northwest.
https://youtu.be/3wKOVZKimwg
You’re clearly not in that category, so your opinion is worthless.
Poor Chris, he actually thinks that he knows anything.
Odds are I pay more in a given year than you have in your entire life.
But of course liberals like Chrissy are convinced that they are special, because their mommies told them they are.
because their mommies told them they are.
They still do, from the stairwell down into the basement.
Odds are I pay more in a given year than you have in your entire life.
Do you have a job (even if it’s “only” a minimum wage one)? then yep, odds are you are correct.
But of course liberals like Chrissy are convinced that they are special, because their mommies told them they are.
that and they are all about others paying for their “bright” ideas.
If it is voted in …the fools deserve the results .
Those of us who live in the People’s Republic of Washington State don’t think we deserve it. I only have one vote to defeat it. The Democrats apparently get more than one vote each. It’s hard to defeat a Democrat or their stupid initiatives in this state.
Jim
Yes , I know . Have family there .
I tell them they chose to move there … and if it gets too bad …move !
They love the weather , but not the political climate .
You have my sympathy .
The political climate change is definitely affecting them
East of the Cascade Mountains, Washingtonians are largely conservative. But Washington State laws are made and passed by liberals that live in the large coastal cities. Let’s see…
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, … requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation…”
Vive la Liberty!
As in the Gregoire gubernatorial, they keep just finding more ballots until there are enough.
Vote by mail is inherently fraudulent, so now it’s even easier to fake ballots.
Left out “election”.
Am I the only one who can’t see comments?
“Vote by mail is inherently fraudulent, …
Please explain how Washington’s voting is fraudulent?
Are documented cases more common than in polling voting states?
Links please?
Annddddd – John Tillman goes silent. Another empty suit.
In Chrissies world, if you don’t answer a query in a couple of hours, it proves you have admitted you were wrong.
Then again, it’s not like he’s capable of coming up with real world reasons, so he has to invent ever more fanciful reasons.
Gregoire has been out of office for years. Try to keep up.
The fact that Grogoire is out of office proves there was no fraud during his election.
And to think, liberals actually tell each other that they are the smart ones.
I completely emphasize. If Keith Ellison somehow wins I will have to endure weeks of posts asking how can Minnesotans be so stupid.
The data says CO2 has little if any effect on climate. Temperature is now about what it was in 2002. CO2 has increased since 2002 by 40% of the increase 1800 to 2002.
Hi Dan,
I wrote this on Bill Gates’ blog about one year ago – apparently it did not have any effect. 🙁
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Energy-and-Civilization
Bill wrote:
“The main disagreement I have with Smil is about how quickly we can make the transition to clean energy.”
Bill, I really like your work on malaria and on vaccines – I probably like a lot of other things you are doing too.
But Bill, I have spent my career in energy and have studied global warming alarmism since 1985 – you are an intelligent man, but it appears that you are being ill-advised on climate and energy.
Below is reference to a primer on the subject – take your time, study it, and contact me via my website if you want to discuss.
The term “climate change” is so vague and the definition is so changeable that it is NOT a falsifiable hypothesis. It is therefore unscientific nonsense. The term “catastrophic human-made global warming” is a falsifiable hypothesis, and it was falsified long ago – when CO2 rose sharply after ~1940 while temperature declined from ~1945 to ~1977. As my co-authors and I wrote in 2002, “the alleged global warming crisis DOES NOT EXIST”.
Current forms of clean/green energy are not green and produce little useful (dispatchable) energy. All they do is destabilize the grid and drive up energy costs, which increases Excess Winter Deaths among the elderly and the poor. Sure there may be better forms of energy out there – but current “solutions” are costly fiascos, due primarily to intermittency. My co-authors and I wrote this conclusion in 2002, and since then tens of trillions of dollars of scarce global resources have been squandered on green energy nonsense.
[end of excerpt]
Regards, Allan MacRae, P.Eng.
Bill is an incredibly sharp guy- when it comes to math. And he does do good things with his money.
The thing that continues to make me grimace is the idea that were he born a few years before or after, he may have been a university professor with no more power than a humanities prof. Talk about coming in with the tide.
I have often wondered about brilliant people being shills for the climate alarmist. I think in part is a lack of time to analyze the issue in depth. And, since they have the utmost belief in their own field they believe other scientists have merit in their field. Sometimes a village dolt knows how the wheels turn better than the professor.
There is another explanation: By virtue signalling he doesn’t get a bomb in his letter box.
Some battles are not worth fighting
Bill is an incredibly sharp guy- when it comes to math.
And there you are. A lot of guys who are really great at math are dumbfoundingly stupid in other areas, e.g., my cousin, George Soros, William Buffett, the great deal of physicists who buy into CAGW, etc.
Genius means squat when it comes to common sense or the ability to reason.
How can someone good at math not see that the central theorem is misapplied when a huge number of imprecise measurements (at different times) are averaged to guess a precise value of an nonphysical “temperature” value?
How can they not know that averaging doesn’t magically cancel bias?
How can they browse SkS or the CDC website and not see horsesh.t?
I think it’s sciencism. Like racism for sciences: these people aren’t like us, these people don’t need to apply real math or good science, but it’s OK.
It’s because the people that are good at math see the application of the theorem is being applied correctly to the sampling of a population mean.
But Bill G is dumb as a box-of-rocks if it involves the science if the natural world.
If multi-billionaire Bill Gates or multi-billionaire Michael Bloomberg actually wanted to do “good things” ….. or something worthwhile for the citizens of the US of A, …… one or both should spend 3% to 5% of their acquired wealth to develop and install …. a 100% safe, secure, incorruptible Internet Voting System and associated User Application firmware.
Said system would include a per se, “Master” Server and the State’s voter ID data base, which would be located at and controlled by the Secretary of State of the individual states. And a per se, “County” Server would be located at each County Seat and controlled by the County Clerk’s Office. Each county Voting Precinct , plus the County Clerk’s office, would have 2 or more large screen PC terminals for the casting of votes, ….. that would be immediately “recorded” at the Precinct, ….. on the server at the County Clerk’s office …… and on the “Master” server at the Office of the Secretary of State.
Such a System would permit all duly Registered and/or authorized voters to “cast their vote” at the Precinct where they are registered …….. from anywhere in the world that they have Internet access.
Electronic voting is technically not far off in the form of blockchain based transactions that can be inspected by anyone and not changed once in the blockchain. Have a look at how Bitcoin Cash works and the uses to which it can be applied.
I used to have respect for Bill Gates. Not so much anymore. It is not that hard to understand how science works and that “Climate Science” is not science.
I wonder what the psychological drive is of these ultra-wealthy types that seem to be blind to the processes that created their wealth and wish to destroy the culture that fostered it? Is it deep seated guilt at becoming so rich or is it just laziness to educate themselves in disciplines outside their interest or maybe a burning desire to be liked and trusted by the ignorant masses?
Me thinks it is “ego” driven and afflicts the moderately-wealthy also, such as the “has-been” TV and Hollywood actors and actresses that are desperate for “publicity”.
And the Bill Gates and Michael Bloombergs et ell, are now the “has-beens” of the culture that they fostered and the media pretty much ignores them, …… so, their only recourse is say or do ”something” to attract the media’s attention. Media attention for them produces the “high” effect as crack cocaine does for a drug addict.
Oh how I wish I had gone through with my plan to make a quick fortune off of Gates. In The Road Ahead he wrote: `The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers.” (p. 265)
My plan was to sell him my algorithm, validated by several prominent mathematicians under strict non-disclosure agreement, for a one MILLION dollars (or maybe another amount), sight unseen.
Ah, yes…coulda shoulda woulda…
I can usually just skim the comments to either “get it”, or realize it is worth re-reading to try to “get it”, or realize that there is no amount of re-reading that will let me “get it”.
I am glad I went back and re-read this one.
Bill is so much smarter that me (hell, I have a hard time factoring the small ones) … I think he will figure it out.
And that only assumes the amount of increase from 1800 to 2002 to be accurate. In fact, such supposed increase is based on a comparison of proxy-derived levels (1800) to instrument readings (2002), therefore being a scientific incompetence.
He’s one of the guilty left who’s guilt derives from success. He also has so much money that no tax will materially affect him or anyone he knows in any way shape or form, so this is a particularly disingenuous expression of virtue signaling.
Gates should stick with computers.
software is his core competency. hardware is a is the hook to keep using his OS and office apps.
Can you document Bill’s involvement in Microsoft over the last 4 years, other than a technology adviser to management?
What language do you suspect he is coding in?
You don’t need to code to be a software engineer. That’s like expecting a building architect to be a cabinet maker.
Someone has to have the vision, and help in developing the high level requirements. That person still understands the limitations of code as well as the potential. Others develop the lower level requirements, support testing, etc. Somewhere down there are the coders.
Without the architect, you can still get a product. Just don’t expect it to be sophisticated.
No, Marketing is. He was never very good at writing software.
Right from QDOS which I think he bought, he never wrote most of the software that Microsoft used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86-DOS
Like totally.
Let’s say he was in the right place at the right time and risked and succeeded in doing strategic decisions. But he was never a software guy, if you don’t count the fact Linux was partly inspirated by the fact most disk operating systems were closed source at the time of DOS and Windows 3.0
I was using the term computers in the aggravate. As opposed to widgets or thing-a-ma-jigs.
Exactly. He didn’t write the code that made him wealthy, he bought it.
“Exactly. He didn’t write the code that made him wealthy, he bought it.”
This is what losers who have done nothing in their life say. Yes, he bought the rights to DOS. But what made IBM come to MS for an OS was their BASIC compiler, which Gates and Allen wrote themselves years before DOS came along. MS then enhanced DOS, and wrote Win 3.1 and Windows Server.
The hero worship is strong with this one.
The stupid worship is strong in MarkW
It’s my understanding that QDOS was a clone of the CP/M API and there was always a strong suspicion that it was developed from pirated CP/M source code, so much so that IBM eventually started offering CP/M on its PC’s to avoid being sued, but since it was far more expensive, the QDOS version eventually prevailed. The difference in price was effectively to offset the cost of development, which was primarily born by Kildall and CP/M and this higher cost is likely why IBM and Kildall couldn’t come to terms, especially with Gates able to undercut him with the clone.
Bill Gates major contribution was the “you don’t own the software, you are buying a license to use it”. Brilliant way to keep people buying more and more.
Left wingers do not support regressive taxation. That’s the definition of left wing.
He may be liberal, but that’s not necessarily left wing. Some extreme right-wingers (who think that established authority makes right) sometimes think that everyone should be free to use their abilities without restraint if it hurts no-one directly.
On this issue you could have an alliance with the political left (and the Church with its bias to the poor) if you are able to be politically realistic.
Not any longer… things have moved on.
The lefties in California are in love with regressive taxes at least on energy.
Of course, they claim to be opposed to regressive taxes on principle. But sticking to their principles is not a liberal strong suit!
So a big regressive tax is just fine if done in the name of saving a few grams of CO2.
The left loves control. If regressive taxes are what it takes to get the people to do what the left wants them to do, then that’s what they support.
Thinking that power makes right is almost the exclusive dominion of the left and has been for decades. The right thinks that less government is better.
The left supports big government and more taxes, regardless of who get hit by it. They may talk about helping the little guy, but they have never governed that way.
MarkW
Capitalism is voluntary sharing via endeavour.
socialism is inequitable wealth distribution by compulsion.
So you support regressive taxation? Everybody to pay the same amount, no welfare since it would break the scheme?
What I’ve found out is that elitist left wing is much for regressive taxes on consumption. Meat? Tax it. Petrol? Tax it. Flying? Tax it. Illegally border-crossing non-citizens? Give them housing, education, pocket money, #believethem, don’t charge them on anything. Feel a good person. Speeding? Tax it. Working? Tax it. Selling property? Tax it. Renting a home as a poor, colorful, woman, or LBTGQI? Subsidise. Owning a house? Tax it. Renting out a home? Tax it.
See the pattern? If it moves, tax it. If it doesn’t, subsidise.
His success is largely due to Microsoft’s business practices. He should feel guilty. link
I have my own reasons for hating Microsoft. While I was googling, this example popped up. Microsoft managed to get someone sent to jail because he copied software that it gives away for free. They say that corporations are psychopaths. link Well yeah … in that case for sure.
Not true. There are numerous problems with the article. According to the Court of Appeals document they were copies of Dell reinstallation disks, which is significant. The statement from the article:
Simply not true. Large OEM’s like Dell are given special product keys that can be used on multiple machines. They pay Microsoft for each machine they use that product key on. A Dell reinstallation disk has the key code sysprepped into the disk so the user doesn’t have to type in a license key when they do a reinstall. The OEM disks therefore contain both the OS software and the licensed OEM product key. Using the reinstallation disk on any machine other than the one it shipped with is a clear violation of the licensing agreement.
The district court was correct as the Dell reinstallation disk does contain the product key. The author of the article also failed to point out that you can’t download an ISO image without a valid product key. The article is a pile of misinformation.
The comments to the linked article are interesting. None of the comments said that the disks could be used to pirate Windows. None of the comments disagreed that the disks could only be used to restore a system for which the user had a valid license. Several of the comments said that people did indeed download the software for free, even on a Linux machine. Do you have a more credible link?
I have a pile of Dell reinstallation disks in my office which I have used on occasion to reinstall the OS. I never get a screen asking for the product key. A few interesting quirks about the reinstall disks.
1. They use the product key that Dell uses at the factory. It doesn’t match the product key that is affixed to the machine (those are unique).
2. The disk knows if the machine is a Dell. The installation fails if you try to use it on different vendors machine.
3. The disk will work on a Dell machine that was originally licensed for XP. This I suspect was their target market. The commenters ignorance notwithstanding.
4. If you use a retail OEM version (commonly called system builders) and try to use the factory product key it will fail. You have to use the key from the sticker.
* Disclaimer: I have never used a reinstallation disk that violates the licensing agreement.
The OS you happen to be downloading to has nothing to do with whether or not you can download it. If you follow the link you will find that you cannot download the software without a valid product key which needs to be entered first. The product key you enter will determine which version you will be able to download. For example, a product key for the Home version will not work if you try to install using the Pro ISO Pro version. Unlike the Dell reinstallation disk, all the downloaded versions will require you enter the product key to validate the installation. Comparing the download version to the Dell reinstallation disk is just plain ignorant.
“* Disclaimer: I have never used a reinstallation disk that violates the licensing agreement. ”
I’ve thrown away many copies of windos so I could install a real OS, as it’s hard to buy the latest hardware without a fake OS pre-installed, especially laptops. How about a windos credit, along the lines of carbon credits. For every copy not used, someone gets to pay for the privilege to make a copy for free.
Yup, the uber rich seldom see the evil in raising energy costs, because for them it’s crumbs under the table that only the little people have to worry about.
Washington has no income tax but it’s residents must realize that any tax on corporations is just passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. Whatever Washington does with the money to reduce climate change is almost worthless unless you reduce the use of fossil fuels in developing countries like India. We in California will probably have this tax soon, but I will leave this state when the Libs like Gates make it unaffordable. Our state will be left with Silicon Valley and Hollywood Liberals, and the overpaid and overpensioned CALPERS and CALSTRS employees. The overtaxed Middle-Class is already voting with their feet.
I lived out in Washington back in the mid 90s for a short while, and remember how the natives were complaining about all the people from California moving up/in and driving up traffic and housing costs. Looks like they brought their “political stupidity” baggage as well.
Bill’s such a dick…
I’m sure he’s crushed that a nobody like you is criticizing him. Just crushed.
It sure seems to bother you.
Does the article actually describe where the carbon tax revenue goes? In fact, has any bill proposing a carbon tax ever described where the revenue goes?
The 2016 bill was explicit about intent to return the tax via cuts in other taxes. The 2018 bill seems a lot murkier.
Nothing murky about it, they just want to skim all they can.
Bill looks ill in that picture. Is he okay?
I read Bill Gates support for this initiative. Long on support and short on specifics. We have 50 years and then what? Seldom if ever am I impressed with people like him or others in his class. The elitists dictating to the peons. He like others who support these measures and the promoters of these policies know frankly little about the the subject. You can’t fix stupid.
Who cares if you’re impressed with Gates? Nobody.
You obviously care. What does that say about you?
That he’s a nobody. 😉
And his carbon tax will be?
What impact will it have on his lifestyle?
How many solar panels and windmills does he have on his property?
How connected is he to real life?
He donates big numbers to chosen charities.
Many “philanthropist” do so. That’s how they get the title.
How do what they give compare to “the widows mite”?
All you leftist billionaires, give your “widows mite” straight to the Government instead of your “causes” that would work to allow the Government to force the rest of us to be taxed our “widows mite” while you keep yours.
It isn’t going to happen. How many of you remember when many states pledged the money from the Lottery to go to education? It went to education but an equal amount that previously went to education from taxes was diverted to other purposes, so education was not helped at all, basically, it is used for pet projects. The same thing is going to happen to this tax. There is not going to be a reduction in taxes. The only reduction in taxes that ever happens at the state level is if the voters, by initiative, force the reduction.
Enough people spend money on lottery. If profits of lotteries should not go to gangsters, domestic or foreign, then lottery should be a states monopol.
No other explanation / excuse needed.
In your mind, if I can use that term here, the only two options are gangsters or government monopoly?
By the way – no one knows if Bill Gates in the first years himself brought money to Lotteries.
One of the worst things about the IT boom of the last few decades is that it’s funneled so much money to people with so little experience of life in the real world, who’ve then used it to push their political views on the rest of us.
‘”. But 1631 specifically requires that 35 percent of revenues from the fee will go back to low-income communities hit hard by pollution. Although that won’t ease the pain for everyone, it is a good step in the right direction.”
..remind me next time I have a cold to just throw money at it…only a third of it though
So the revenues will go to “the community” rather than to individual taxpayers.
The article says the revenue will go to clean up pollution. I assume they are referring to something other than “carbon pollution” since local communities are not “polluted” by carbon.
Bill Gates thinks carbon dioxide is pollution. Another climate clueless smart guy.
What they mean is that the money will be siphoned off to companies owned by relatives of politicians to fund make work projects that help no one except those self same politicians.
Bill, stick to selling software and making shirtloads of money doing it. Don’t support causes you have no scientific knowledge of.
A tax on carbon-based energy extracted from carbon-based life. Pro-Choice progressed.
He’s just like Bono and so many others from lefty upbringings.
While you were partying, Bill was at home behind his computer.
‘Accidental’ success is not always that smart.
I think his upbringing was fairly conservative, at least his family was rich, which implies it.
He certainly was not at home in front of a computer, the PC was not invented then! He was at school stealing computer time through hacking, because he understood software better than the mainframe developers.
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com
jez….so it’s more liberal money laundering
It’s also a guarantee that much of the money will go to groups that promise to support Democrats and other liberal politicians.
Bingo. It’s just more ordinary, everyday socialist vote-buying.
Why is it illegal to pay someone $10 to vote for you, but not illegal to promise you’ll give them $10,000 of other people’s money if you’re elected?
“35% to environmental justice”. Could this mean 35% to lawyers?
UNEP Document Repository
At least 3 known topics that require separate searches.
Search: enter, environmental law
Search: enter, international environmental law
Search: enter, environmental courts tribunals
https://wedocs.unep.org/discover
There are courts and legal issues that the public might not know about taking place at the international level at the United Nations.
UNEP Document Repository
Requires 2 separate searches.
Search enter: environmental justice, yields 494 results
Search enter: environmental law dispute resolution
https://wedocs.unep.org/discover
UNFCCC
Articles: about 2,930
Search results: environmental justice law.
https://unfccc.int/gcse?q=environmental%20justice%20law
Can just scroll through some of the articles.
UN Environment
UN Environment divisions
Scroll down to: Law Division. Purpose/activities of the UN Law Division.
http://www.unenvironment.org/about-un-environment/why-does-un-environment-matter/un-environment-divisions
United Nations
“United Nations and the Role of Law”
Environmental law overview.
http://www.un.org/roleoflaw/thematic-areas/land-property-environment/environmental-law
Bill thinks spending other people’s money on imaginary things is just fine. Wonderful.
How does he differ from any other liberal?
Some people have absolutely no brains ns
So the prostitute favors celibacy laws.
When Gates sells his 66 thousand square foot home and four private jets, moving into a 1000 square foot townhouse with one smart car that he seldom drives, then I’ll believe him. Till then, he hasn’t the courage of his own convictions.
Kind of like Prohibition where the main allies supporting Prohibition were the bootleggers and Baptists.
The Baptists honestly thought that nobody should be able to drink alcohol. The bootleggers just wanted to eliminate the competition. Which one is Bill Gates? Look at how he lives before you answer that.
If Bill Gates truly believes any sacrifice is worth it, he can put his money where his mouth is and pay the tax for everyone.
His carbon footprint is likely the equivalent of 100-200 middle class families.
But whereas asking a middle class family to fork over an extra $2000/yr in carbon tax would measurably impact their disposable income, an extra $400,000/yr in tax to Mr Gates and his family is a not even a rounding error on his tax return.
The IRS actually has a completely separate system and team just to manage his personal tax return. True story.
My only hope is this crackpot idea gives us a Republican governor in 2022.
Here is the real question. Who gets to pay this tax? Industries? Where does Washington state get its power. Some from Bonneville. I think most of their CO2 is from vehicles. So it is a gas tax.
michael
Seattle gets a large part of its power from Skagit Hydro projects. Puget Sound energy (aka Puget Power) also gets a very large percent of its energy from Bonneville hydro (also about 5% nuke). Washington is probably the LEAST likely state in the nation to be able to gain any CO2 advantage – regardless of the arguments for and against global warming – simply because so little carbon based fuel is used to make their energy.
we passed a cap and tax bill in California. The tax is largely hidden and paid by large corporations who pass the costs on to us. The money is spent on pet projects favored by the governor such as high speed rail!
As a climate clown said back in the summer on a Calgary radio show, we don’t care how many people we destroy or kill to ram through our agenda. Remember what happened when they didn’t take Hitler seriously.