Libertarian Prez Nominee Gary Johnson Retreats, No Longer Backs A Carbon Tax
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson has pulled back his support for a tax on carbon dioxide emissions after just three days, and now says it’s an impractical theory.
“Look, I haven’t raised a penny of taxes in my political career and neither has Bill,” the former New Mexico governor said, referring to his running mate former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.
“We were looking at—I was looking at—what I heard was a carbon fee which from a free-market standpoint would actually address the issue and cost less,” Johnson told New Hampshire voters Thursday. “I have determined that, you know what, it’s a great theory but I don’t think it can work, and I’ve worked my way through that.”
Johnson reiterated his opposition to a carbon tax and skepticism of government climate policies in an interview with Reason magazine editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie.
Johnson said a carbon tax “sounds good in theory, but it wouldn’t work in practice.” Gillespie also asked Johnson what he thought about the U.S. acting alone and cutting carbon dioxide emissions to fight global warming.
“In theory it sounds good, but the reality is that it’s really complex and it won’t really accomplish that,” Johnson said. “So, no support for a carbon fee. I never raised one penny of tax as governor of New Mexico, not one cent in any area. Taxes to me are like a death plague.”
“If there is any way we can address this issue without the loss of U.S. jobs, my ears are open,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s carbon tax reversal came just four days after he told the Juneau Empire he supported a “fee” on emissions as a “free market” approach to fighting global warming.
“I do believe that climate change is occurring,” Johnson said. “I do believe that it is man-caused” and “that there can be and is a free-market approach to climate change.”
But Johnson’s CO2 “fee” was interpreted by many to be code for a “tax” on emissions. Johnson was quickly attacked by conservative writers and pundits for backing a CO2 tax, even getting called a “left-wing candidate” by The Federalist’s Robert Tracinski.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/29/gary-johnson-retreats-no-longer-backs-a-carbon-tax/#ixzz4IjT5RdoG…
‘Libertarian’ Gary Johnson Pushes ‘Free Market’ Carbon Tax
Despite a historic opportunity for third parties to do well this presidential election, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson seems determined to blow it. In the equivalent of shooting himself in the political foot, Johnson announced support for a deeply unpopular tax on emissions of carbon dioxide, or CO2, to stop alleged “climate change.” And he sought to deceive voters while doing it. While the former New Mexico governor framed the tax scheme as a “fee” and a “free-market approach,” even libertarians blasted the deception.
The “fee,” as Johnson referred to his proposed tax in a perfect emulation of ObamaCare-style semantic deception, would massively expand government control over Americans and the economy. At the same time, the scheme would further enrich crony capitalists such as Goldman Sachs and Al Gore, along with the other mega-banks and oil companies pushing for it. The poor and middle class, though, along with freedom and free markets, would suffer a devastating blow from the plan. Even the planet would suffer, according to experts.
Known to scientists as the gas of life, CO2 is an essential molecule needed for plant life and is exhaled by every person on the planet. Despite being absurdly demonized as “pollution” by extremist politicians and bureaucrats, it is emitted in almost every human activity — from sitting on a couch to driving a car to turning on a light bulb. Human emissions of CO2, though, appear to be insignificant at best, making up a fraction of one percent of all the “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere.…
Gary Johnson Backs CO2 ‘Fee’ To Fight ‘Global Warming’ – ‘I do believe that it is man-caused’
http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/22/gary-johnson-backs-co2-fee-to-fight-global-warming/
Libertarian Party presidential nominee and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson said he’s no skeptic of man-made global warming and endorsed a “fee” on carbon dioxide emissions.
It’s all part of his “free market” approach to global warming, Johnson told the Juneau Empire in an article published Sunday.
“I do believe that climate change is occurring,” Johnson said. “I do believe that it is man-caused” and “that there can be and is a free-market approach to climate change.”
Johnson’s “free market” approach to global warming includes “a fee — not a tax, he said — placed on carbon” to make those who emit the greenhouse gas pay the supposed cost of their actions, according to the Juneau
“We as human beings want to see carbon emissions reduced significantly,” he said, adding the U.S. only emits “16 percent of the (global) load” CO2.
Johnson said: “I don’t want to do anything that harms jobs.”
It’s not exactly clear how a “fee” on CO2 would be different than a “tax,” but Johnson’s announcement was picked up by environmentalists
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/22/gary-johnson-backs-co2-fee-to-fight-global-warming/#ixzz4I4eHclgG…