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With goodies for everyone, climate bill passed
New York Times
06/30/2009
As the most ambitious energy and climate-change legislation ever introduced in Congress made its way to a floor vote last Friday, it grew fat with compromises, carve-outs, concessions and out-and-out gifts intended to win the votes of wavering lawmakers and the support of powerful industries.
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Canada to match US climate change rules
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/30/2009
Canada will adopt climate-change regulations comparable to those of the United States - including new rules for oil sands producers and refiners - to avoid punitive "green" tariffs, Environment Minister Jim Prentice says.
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Climate bill shaped by compromise
Los Angeles Times
06/28/2009
President Obama's willingness to sit down with each group affected by a historic climate bill and compromise yielded a narrow victory in the House on Friday. The question is: did supporters give away so much in the process that the benefits to the environment ended up being slim to none?
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Views: Replace WA property tax with BC carbon tax
Seattle Times
06/29/2009
It has been a roller-coaster year for anyone concerned about climate change. The Western Climate Initiative is stalled and federal legislation has an uncertain future. But Washington state could make strides to reduce carbon emissions by repealing the state property tax and imposing a carbon tax shift modeled on British Columbia's.
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Obama praises climate bill's progress
Washington Post
06/28/2009
In an interview with a small group of energy reporters in the Oval Office, Obama brushed aside criticisms about compromises and savored last week's narrow victory in the House on one of his top domestic priorities: a climate bill designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
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CA fingerprints all over climate policy
San Francisco Chronicle
06/28/2009
When California passed sweeping laws to fight global warming nearly three years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state politicians hoped the move would force a reluctant federal government to act. They got their wish.
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Seattle plans to repeal car commuter tax
Seattle Times
06/24/2009
Heeding complaints from businesses in a tough economy, Seattle officials want to repeal a tax on employees who drive to work. Adopted three years ago to fund transportation improvements, it charges businesses $25 annually for each employee who does not commute by bus, carpool, bike or foot.
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Cap-and-trade vote set in US House
Washington Post
06/23/2009
Democratic leaders in the House have scheduled a Friday vote on a climate change bill that would establish a cap-and-trade system to limit the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, a priority for President Obama. Proponents are still struggling to cement support for the legislation, with two new concessions to farm state lawmakers.
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Offsets center stage in climate debate
San Francisco Chronicle
06/21/2009
Dairies, tree growers, vegetable farmers and businesses could win big under legislation advancing on Capitol Hill that would allow companies to "offset" 2 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year by investing in pollution-reducing projects. But some argue the generous offset allowances undermine any effort to address climate change.
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Green bills don't make the cut in OR
Oregonian
06/21/2009
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and advocates began this legislative session with a long list of green-friendly legislation that included making Oregon a world leader in combating global warming. Instead, despite a Democratic Legislature, they've seen their plans crumble in the face of a poor economy and determined business opposition.
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Tax on oil tankers declared unconstitutional
Seattle Times
06/16/2009
The city of Valdez, Alaska, will have to return millions it has collected in taxes since it began in 2000 assessing a tax on oil tankers that on Monday was found to be unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court.
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BC carbon tax shift gives more it than receives
Vancouver Sun
06/10/2009
The provincial government paid out $38 million more in carbon tax breaks to British Columbians than it collected in carbon taxes in the first year of the climate-change initiative's implementation.
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Climate bill to pay hundreds of dollars in rebates
Seattle Times
06/08/2009
Low-income families will receive hundreds of dollars a year to help pay higher energy bills if Congress enacts the first-ever limits on the gases blamed for global warming, according to a new analysis.
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BC mayors want carbon money for transit
BC Local News
06/02/2009
Metro Vancouver mayors are renewing their demand that part of BC's carbon tax shift go to fund TransLink. The idea was rejected by the BC Liberals and their election win cemented the government's policy that the carbon tax will continue to climb and be used to fund income tax cuts.
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How Obama made energy 'pop'
Washington Post
05/31/2009
President Obama has elevated energy and climate issues to near the top of his agenda and made them "pop" by packaging them as ways to create green jobs and reduce US dependence on foreign oil.
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Free carbon permits could cost consumers
New York Times
05/31/2009
Those free passes that the House climate bill gives to major greenhouse gas-emitting industries might not be so free for consumers.
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OR House votes to raise gas tax, create jobs
Oregon Public Broadcasting
05/27/2009
The Oregon House approved the $300 million-a-year measure Wednesday. It would raise the state's gas tax by six cents a gallon. Supporters say the revenue could create as many as 40,000 jobs in the next decade.
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Will BC Premier's win bring the carbon tax back to life?
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/14/2009
Climate-change experts say Gordon Campbell's victory in British Columbia's election Tuesday, which saw his party not only hold ground but also gain a few seats, is a signal voters are so concerned about global warming that they are ready to embrace a carbon tax shift.
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Seattle official: Tax drivers by the mile
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
05/12/2009
Seattle's top transportation official said Washington state should allow a pilot project to tax Puget Sound drivers by the mile. Other experts on Tuesday called for a "vehicle miles traveled" tax, tolls, congestion charges and higher gas taxes to help fill a nationwide funding gap. But a state official said Washingtonians are not ready to accept paying for roads, and routinely point out that "freeway" has "free" right in the name.
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Did BC's New Democrats pick wrong fight with carbon tax?
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/12/2009
In a move that left the environmental wing of the party gasping for air, the NDP decided to exploit rural anger and oppose BC's carbon tax shift, even though it was supported by climate-change scientists and environmental economists around the globe. When gas prices dipped, that anger was replaced by concern about the economy and jobs.
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Poll: Canadians wary of carbon tax costs
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/10/2009
Canadians are willing to flirt with a nationwide carbon tax to fight climate change, but bets are off when it comes to paying the bill, a new poll has found. Support for the tax was lowest in BC, the only province that actually has one.
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Views: Is the nation ready for mileage-based tax?
Longview Daily News
05/05/2009
Oregon’s 2006-07 pilot program, which could translate to a national program, equipped participating drivers with GPS transponders. The transponders worked wirelessly with pumps at two Portland service stations, allowing participants to pay their mileage tax just as gas taxes are paid.
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BC's carbon tax rated top climate policy
Toronto Globe and Mail
04/29/2009
A think tank at the University of Ottawa has ranked British Columbia's carbon tax the most effective climate policy in Canada.
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Portland drivers may face fee based on miles driven
Oregonian
04/29/2009
Portland car owners could pay an additional registration fee for their rides -- this one based on how much they drive -- under a steadily shrinking transportation bill that's having a bumpy trip through the Legislature.
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Views: Is Obama ready to cap carbon?
New York Times
04/26/2009
Without a fixed, durable price on carbon, none of the Obama clean-tech initiatives will have an impact on climate change or make America the leader in the next great industrial revolution. Any mechanism - cap and trade, fee-bates, carbon tax and/or gasoline tax - needs to be real and provide consumers and investors a long-term incentive to shift to clean cars, appliances and buildings.
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