Taxed Enough Already

For John, BLUF:  We are being scammed with this regional agreement for a climate tax on gasoline—the Transportation and Climate Initiative.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Baker OKs the TCI

Here is the sub-headline:

Signs up state for higher climate fees

The article is from The [Lowell] Sun, by Reporter Erin Tiernan, 22 December 2020.  The Link, however is from The Boston Broadside.

Here is the lede plus four:

Gov. Charlie Baker signed up Bay State taxpayers for a controversial carbon tax initiative praised by climate activists and blasted by businesses and residents concerned an up to 9-cent hike per gallon of gas could hit their bottom line as the state struggles to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.

The “trailblazing” multistate Transportation and Climate Initiative sets a goal to reduce motor vehicle pollution by at least 26% and generate over $1.8 billion for climate causes in Massachusetts by 2032, Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement announcing the partnership on Monday.

The cap- and- invest program will set a cap on vehicle emissions and mandate fuel distributors to buy permits for the carbon dioxide they emit — a cost businesses say will be handed down to the drivers at the gas pump.

“The revenue raised by TCI will come from the residents and businesses of participating states, not the fuel companies where the fee is applied,” the New England Convenience Store Owners and Energy Marketers Association said in a statement.

The program will increase the cost of gas somewhere between 5 cents and “an absolute maximum” of 9 cents per gallon — lower than the 17 cent cap the state floated last year, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides said Monday.

This will not turn out well.  Not only will it impact individuals, but it will impact our economy.  Stand by to be rammed.

Regards  —  Cliff