Mayor Proposes Pollution Tax

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Mayor Bloomberg is proposing a national plan to fight pollution that would tax companies for the amount of greenhouse gases they release into the atmosphere.

Under the plan, announced today at a climate summit of Mayors in Seattle, the tax revenue drawn from corporations would be used to reduce payroll taxes for Americans.

“Studies show that a pollution fee of $15 for every ton of greenhouse gas would allow us to return more than $500 a year to the average taxpayer,” Mr. Bloomberg said in his prepared statement. “It would give all of us an incentive to reduce our energy use.”

Mr. Bloomberg, who denies he is planning an independent run at the presidency, hatched the plan after a trip to England last month, where the Conservative party has proposed a series of similar tax initiatives to fight pollution.

Many Democrats have endorsed a different plan to reduce greenhouse emissions, known as a cap and trade solution, which forces companies that release amounts of pollution above a certain threshold into the atmosphere to purchase or trade credits with other companies that have not exceeded the threshold.

Yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg said he is opposed to a cap and trade plan because it obscures costs.

“A direct charge would eliminate the uncertainty that companies would face in a cap-and-trade system,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Creating a direct charge for greenhouse gas pollution would also incentivize the kinds of innovation that a cap-and-trade system is designed to encourage – without creating market uncertainty.”

Mr. Bloomberg also announced that he plans to travel to Bali, Indonesia next month to be a guest at the United Nations climate conference.


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