Every time voters are presented with something close to the actual costs of achieving CO2 emission targets, they say no. This explains why America’s left avoids putting carbon taxes on the ballot, writes The Editorial Board.
I disagree. It's much more specific than that.
As I've stated, a carbon tax doesn't necessarily need to be presented as the ONLY answer to meeting targets, but as one part of the answer to meeting targets. Thus it doesn't have to be so astronomically priced as if it will reach those targets on its own.
But the reason the left doesn't want to propose carbon taxes? Because they're regressive and will hurt left voters more than right voters, and they KNOW the right [which doesn't want taxes anyway] will call them on it mercilessly.
Taxes are GREAT, when they're on "other people". When you're asking "the rich to pay their fair share", when you're essentially promising your voters that they'll get the benefit and someone else will pay the bill. Even if [as usual] the middle class is the one that'll get screwed, they can sell higher income taxes as being on "the rich" if they're very loose with what they consider rich.
You can't pull that here.
Problems with the left proposing a carbon tax:
- The political risk of it not passing at all is high, because they KNOW the right will oppose it tooth and nail.
- The political risk of proposing it is high, because the right will skewer them as it being a regressive tax that is borne by the poor and middle class--which it is.
- The political risk of it passing is high, because it will be a VERY visible tax that will raise prices, and they will be blamed for it--by their own constituents.
- Because they can't sell it as offset by a reduction in something else regressive like the payroll tax (which I've suggested) because then the right will accuse them of defunding social security or something like it, and their commitment to social security and medicare is FAR more important to their electoral success than a carbon tax.
Reasons the right won't propose or go along with a carbon tax:
- Because they don't want to in the first place.
Typical politics. Good policy IMHO, but it will never happen because the political calculus makes it full of peril for the side that would want it most.