Germany last week doubled its consumer subsidies of electric vehicles that cost up to €40,000. But a more powerful measure is in the works to help Germans transition to fuel-efficient vehicles: a high tax on vehicles that get less than about 28 miles per gallon.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long been a supporter of a revenue-neutral carbon tax to “price the unpriced externalities of carbon emissions”, as he phrases it.
A bill passed in Michigan in 2015 is about to kick in, making being a vehicle owner in the state more expensive than ever. The bill, which is part of a road-funding package proposed by Gov. Rick Snyder, will see cost increases across various facets of vehicle ownership, from annual registration fees to gas prices.
Those projected to be the hardest hit are people who own multiple vehicles and those who own fuel-inefficient vehicles, but while this may seem like good news to green vehicle owners, the bill is also introducing a surcharge on electric and hybrid vehicles for as much as $235… expand full story
Prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau enters his car after taking a tour of the West Block construction site on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, November 3, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced that Canada would implement a Federal Carbon Tax if the provinces didn’t do so on their own. The plan states that if any province does not have a carbon tax or cap and trade system in place by 2018, the federal government will implement a plan to tax carbon starting at C$10/ton (US$7) and reaching $50/ton (US$35) by 2022. Speaking at the House of Commons, Trudeau said, “There is no hiding from climate change. It is real and it is everywhere. What we can do is make a real and honest effort — today and every day — to protect the health of our environment, and with it, the health of all Canadians.”
Massachusetts is taking aggressive steps toward cleaning electrical grid and in doing so is joining a select group of regions around the world. Of course Germany and California get all the headlines, but also deserving are Portugal, Scotland, Hawaii, Iceland, Costa Rica, Uruguay throwing down part of $285B worth in 2015. There are also the global giants China and India building massive amounts of infrastructure.
A judge in Minnesota suggested that the proper price of the greenhouse gas Carbon Dioxide should be between $11 and $57/ton, ten times larger than current Minnesota estimates. A judge in Washington State recently ruled that the threat of climate change is so urgent that the state must be placed on a court-ordered deadline to hold polluters accountable now. Politicians, Scientists and Economists are all seeming to focus on an Economics style solution to climate change. Are we on the cusp of energetic changes from a legal standpoint?