In what will likely be a major disappointment for the Democratic Party’s progressive base, upcoming Green New Deal legislation will omit the plan’s most lauded goal: A specific deadline for ending U.S. fossil fuel development.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren used the bitter cold sweeping the Midwest and Northeast to announce her full-throated support for a “Green New Deal.”
Two leading energy policy professionals spoke before the House Energy and Technology on Tuesday to offer their views on the recent state-funded decarbonization study.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has embraced a plan to phase out all 84 of its coal-fired power plants over the next 19 years as part of the country’s plan to shift to green power in the name of global warming.
The Legislature’s paid consultant says the proposed carbon taxes won’t work. Most Vermont emissions don’t come from a handful of power plant smokestacks; they come from hundreds of thousands of automotive tail pipes and furnaces and woodstove chimneys.
If anyone ever bought the notion that a Vermont carbon tax would be “revenue neutral,” or, if passed as such, would stay that way for very long, this week’s Statehouse activities should put that fantasy to bed for good.
As lawmakers begin evaluating the pros and cons of carbon pricing methods in Vermont, the House Energy and Technology Committee appears to have invited testimony mostly from individuals and groups who support a carbon tax.
The researchers were asked directly, and admitted forthrightly, that they did not consider administrative costs when calculating the impact of the tax.
Former Vice President Al Gore said the recent Central American migrant caravans seeking asylum in the U.S. were fleeing the ravages of global warming.
Draft legislative text for “Green New Deal” legislation “was written over a single December weekend by the staff of the freshman representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and three like-minded progressive groups.”
The benefits of reducing mercury emissions as determined by the Obama administration were $4 million to $6 million annually, and the costs of reducing such emissions was $7.4 billion to $9.6 billion annually. The costs were as much as 2,400 times greater than the benefits.
Rep. Curt McCormack, an avid bike rider who doesn’t drive a car, has been named chair of the House Transportation Committee. He confirmed that his committee will try to develop more public transportation and other alternatives to cars, such as bike paths.