Why a Pollution Tax is a Good Idea
Loren Kaye’s piece yesterday did a very good job of outlining one of the less publicized elements of items under consideration at the Governor’s Commission on the 21st Century Economy, a proposed Pollution Tax. As the author of that item, I would like to add a couple of thoughts.
First, the idea of modernizing our tax system should, as directed by the Governor in establishing the Commission, both reflect the current composition of California’s economy, and the future to which we aspire. One of the clear aspirations we have as a state is to be part of the solutions to global climate change, especially reducing Green House Gas emissions. Perhaps the enduring legacy of the current state administration will be their very positive and aggressive public policy efforts to reduce GHG’s, and establish California as one of the primary centers in the world for developing and taking climate change solutions to market (think about Tesla and the many other California-born ideas in this regard).