There are few things less popular in American politics than raising taxes, which is why there is a longstanding tradition of American politicians finding ways to avoid using the ‘t’ word.
While it’s not surprising to see these sorts of political shenanigans from two parties that have a history of using Orwellian word games to grow government (like the charmingly named Patriot Act), it’s extremely unfortunate to see Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson resorting to the same tactics.
During an interview with the Juneau Empire, Gary Johnson was asked his opinions on climate change:
‘I do believe that climate change is occurring. I do believe that it is man-caused,’ Johnson said.
To address climate change, Johnson said he believes ‘that there can be and is a free-market approach to climate change.’ That would include a fee – not a tax, he said – placed on carbon. Such a fee would make pollutants bear a market cost.
What’s interesting is that while Gary Johnson tried to distance himself from calling his proposal a tax when talking with a newspaper in the ‘red state’ of Alaska, he was more honest when discussing the idea in an editorial newsroom that looks more favorably on taxes, the Los Angeles Times. Along with crediting the free-market, and not the regulations of the Obama administration, with the decline of the American coal industry, Governor Johnson said he was ‘open also to the notion of a carbon tax. That it does have an impact, that it ends up being revenue-neutral.’
While it’s nice of Gary Johnson to not want to grow the government coffers with a carbon tax, unfortunately that detail doesn’t make this proposal any less concerning, nor any more ‘free-market.’
This post was published at Ludwig von Mises Institute on Aug 22, 2016.
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