New Zealanders pay world's first greenhouse tax

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/05/06/2003253318

New Zealanders will pay an extra NZ$2.90 (US$2.14) a week for electricity, gasoline and gas when the country becomes the first in the world to introduce a carbon tax to address global warming.

It is expected to add about 6 percent to household energy prices and 9 percent for most businesses but will help the economy in the long run, according to Pete Hodgson, the minister responsible for climate change policy.

Hodgson set the tax on Wednesday at NZ$11 per tonne of carbon emitted. It will come into effect in two years.

"If we are going to tackle climate change, we need to start taking environmental costs into account in the economic choices we make," he said.

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They are taxing the people and to quote the article, "The tax, planned after New Zealand signed up to the Kyoto protocol, would make polluting energy sources such as coal and oil more expensive than cleaner ones such as hydro, wind and solar." If the goal of the tax is just to make it competetive for renewables then I think it falls short. If the money raised by the tax goes towards building renewable energy infrastructure, building quality livable communities then I think it would be a good idea.

How the extra cash will be spent should be spelt out in the next budget, in just over a weeks time...

this was discussed before, look down a few threads
for one title 'Guardian Utd'.

pollution intensive industries, EXEMPT
interntional airlines, EXEMPT

They have a social democracy where labor, nature and education is cherished.

They are the first Nuclear Fee Zone on the planet.

Peter Jackson
Lord of the Rings

They took America's Cup on Sailing

They have Socialized Medicine

and they are the first nation on the planet that is
Doing This Now.

If so, did the survey mention that the
worst offenders will be exempted?

Good News for gross polluters, permanent exemptions with
wishy washy conditions, most always become
permanent exemptions.

Bad News for the poor and middle class,
invisible taxes tend to be permanent.

Don't forget Vat on the invisible tax.

You're a SUV driver from Aukland, I take it? lol...

>is that what the opinion-polling indicated?
>If so, did the survey mention that the
>worst offenders will be exempted?

Well, the worst offender for greenhouse gases is the farming sector: Sheep farts, basically. Short of fitting a load of corks to the sheep we're pretty screwed on that. We could tax the famers per fart, but we're trying to compete against the Aussies who also have a lot of sheep and, if you recall, wiped their collective arse on Kyoto and flushed it.

There's also an exeption for Comalco, the aluminium smelters, which use 15% of our entire electricity production. Again, we're trying to export into the pacific arena, and such enviromental giants like the USA and China (and the aussies).

Ditto the woodmills, unless you'd like to see the rest of the Indonesian forests turned into paper?

>Good News for gross polluters,

Yes, the sheep are very happy.

>permanent exemptions with
>wishy washy conditions, most always become
>permanent exemptions.

NZ has spare capacity for renewable energy, there just hasn't been any market presure for it before. Now there is.

>Bad News for the poor and middle class,
>invisible taxes tend to be permanent.

Bad news if they drive a SUV, yes. The trains are mainly electric. They'll work it out.

>Don't forget Vat on the invisible tax.

Like I said in the earlier post, it remains to be seen what the government does with the money. Maybe they'll blow it all on nukes? :D