David Rezachek's Home Page

If you are interested in Solar cars, Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, Renewable Energy,

Whistleblowing, or political intrigue - check out these links -

"The Demise of the Ka'ahele La Solar Car Program", "Race The Sun", and

Energy Incentive Programs/Financing Alternatives

Disincentives for Fossil Fuel Use

Alternative Approaches to Offsetting the Competitive Burden of a Carbon/Energy Tax Policies need to be broad-based to properly spread the incentive for efficiency improvements across sectors. One such broad-based approach is a carbon or carbon/energy tax. A pure carbon tax is a tax on fossil fuels proportional to their carbon content, while a carbon/energy tax is a broad-based energy tax that also applies to non-carbon energy sources such as nuclear and hydro-power, and may include tax rates on fuels that reflect additional concerns, such as national security in the case of oil). A carbon/energy tax applies to all economic sectors and fossil fuel consumers proportionally to their carbon dioxide emissions or energy use. Many economists argue that a carbon/energy tax is the most efficient instrument for promoting emissions reductions. A carbon/energy tax is a market-based approach, encouraging cuts in emissions through price incentives, and provides individuals and firms with maximum flexibility in deciding when and how to achieve reductions. Moreover, the revenue from a carbon/energy tax can be used to reduce other taxes, creating additional efficiency gains.

Carbon Taxes with Tax Reductions in Minnesota Energy generated from fossil fuels is associated with a great deal of environmental and social ills. These include: air pollution arising in the combustion of fossil fuels; disruption and destruction of ecosystems where fossil fuels are mined and transported; national security and economic implications of the dependency on foreign oil; and finally, the potentially catastrophic consequences of global climate change. Ecological tax reform is one answer to this need for energy policy. Ecological tax reform, also called "green tax shifting," is a policy that combines the implementation of broad-based pollution taxes with offsets of traditional taxes, such as income and consumption taxes.

Carbon Tax User Guide The State Carbon Tax Model was originally developed by the Center for Global Change in 1991-92 in response to a request by the Maryland Legislature for advice on possible new energy and environmental taxes. Since then, the Model has been adapted for wider use, made more user friendly, and tested by state officials and environmentalists in other states. The Center for Global Change is now making the Model available free of charge on the WorldWide Web for general use by state officials, the environmental community and other interested parties.

Denmark Wants Higher Petrol Prices in Germany The first effects of environmental tax reform in Denmark are becoming visible. Calls are now growing for Germany to make progress in this field, creating more room for further Danish measures. In particular, the sulphur tax introduced in early 1996 has had a beneficial environmental impact. Although according to the Danish Ministry of Taxes the price differentials between coals and oils that are high and low in sulphur content remain narrow, industry has used fuels with a high content of sulphur to a large extent until the end of 1995 and only then it has shifted to using more low-sulphur fossil fuels. The new tax led to a tangible short-term fall in sulphur emissions. The Environment Ministry estimates that industrial sulphur emissions fell by around 50 percent in the first six months of the tax.

Ecological Tax Reform Creates New Jobs Ecological tax reform is not only good for the environment but also socially acceptable and economically feasible. This is the conclusion of an in-depth study by the respected German Economic Research Institute (DIW) of the five institutes projecting the annual growth rates of economy to the German government commissioned by Greenpeace Germany. The proposed energy tax effectively stimulates structural change towards labor-intensive sectors. DIW calculates that if the tax is implemented, employment in Germany will increase by 600,000 (net effect) over a ten-year period.

Ecological Tax Reform-Project Description The project's goal is to determine the economic implications of restructuring Minnesota's tax revenue system to one based in part on environmental taxes. The plan would not raise additional revenues but would employ "tax shifting". The overall effect of the proposal would be revenue neutral with $1.5 billion in ecological taxes offset by reducing other tax revenues by $1.5 billion.

Ecotaxes Green taxes seem to be effective in achieving environmental goals and should be used more often, according to a report recently released by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The use of environmental taxes has increased among European Union (EU) member countries during the past decade. While there are political barriers to their implementation, the report said, those obstacles can be overcome by careful design and extensive consultation.

Green Taxes An excellent article on "pollution" taxes, or as I like to call them, "environmental abuser fees."

Green Taxes Project - Ecological Tax Reform The project's goal is to determine the economic implications of restructuring Minnesota's tax revenue system to one based in part on environmental taxes. The plan would not be to raise additional revenue but to employ "tax shifting."

International Economic Instruments for Sustainable Development : Sticks, Carrots, and Games The 1992 Earth Summit (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro) gave high prominence to "economic instruments" (as distinct from "command-and-control" measures), extolling their virtues in principle 16 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and calling for their effective use in Agenda 21.

Restructuring Minnesota's Tax System: Taxing Pollution Rather Than Work and Investment In recent years there has been increasing interest in using pollution taxes to restructure national and state tax systems. Two factors are responsible for this interest. First, the recognition that current tax systems make economies less efficient. Second, the recognition that the prices we pay for goods and services do not reflect their full environmental costs and that these environmental costs are not trivial.

The Green Tax Shift Shifting taxes away from human initiative and onto monopolization of natural resources, pollution and government-granted privileges instead.

The Impact Of A Broad-Based Energy Tax On The Competitiveness Of U.S. Industry Abstract of an article by J. Andrew Hoerner and Frank Muller. The Natural Resources Tax Review. July-August 1993.

The Investment Requirements of CO2 Reduction Strategies The implementation of the CO2 reducing measures would be facilitated by the introduction of an energy tax, as higher energy prices would reduce the break-even point for energy-saving investment. In addition, realisation of the measures would also require the removal of implementation barriers in many areas. The overall impact of such a strategy on the macro-economy is minor.

Using Tax to Make Britain a Green and Pleasant Land Green taxes - the latest buzz words in fiscal policy. What are they and why are they so popular? The term "Green Taxes" is used to cover all taxes which penalise environmentally damaging activities. Sometimes it is loosely applied to payments for licences and quotas which permit pollution within certain limits.