Image Source: PexelsLet’s discuss a bill signed by NY Gov. Kathy Hochul and what it really means.
Taxing America for Climate ChangeThe Wall Street Journal reports New York Will Now Tax America for Climate Change
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed legislation that will require fossil-fuel producers to pay $75 billion to supposedly help the state adapt to climate change. “This landmark legislation shifts the cost of climate adaptation from everyday New Yorkers to the fossil fuel companies most responsible for the pollution,” Ms. Hochul’s office declared.
Under the program, bureaucrats will apportion responsibility for climate change among some three dozen companies that have sold fossil fuels in the state based on their global CO2 emissions from 2000 to 2018.
The law says this money could pay for “upgrades to roads, bridges, subways and transit systems,” “preventive health care programs,” “upgrading parts of the electrical grid” and “weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades” in buildings. Project contractors will have to pay inflated union prevailing wages.
Upgrading New York City’s sewer system to “deal with regularly-occurring large rain events is estimated to cost around $100 billion,” the law notes.
Implied AdmissionsThe top implied admission is New York is both broke and desperate.Its sewer system is a disaster due to the 1-2-3 combination of lack of maintenance, population growth, and ridiculous union contracts the state can no longer afford.Since the state is broke and people leave every time it raises taxes, Hochul has opted for a political stunt that the courts will undoubtedly strike down.In 2021, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a New York City lawsuit seeking to hold fossil-fuel producers liable for their alleged climate impact.The court held that state tort law could not be used “to hold multinational oil companies liable for the damages caused by global greenhouse gas emissions,” so the new ploy is to tax only US producers.
Mish SuggestionThe US energy producers should stop sending gasoline, heating oil, and natural gas to the state.That’s a sarcastic suggestion rather than a real one, but it does show a point.Where would New York be without gasoline, heating oil, natural gas, asphalt, concrete, steel, agriculture, and everything else that needs energy (literally everything)?This stunt by the New York Governor is headed for the ashcan, where it belongs.
The Cost of Biden’s Energy Policies Up by $466 BillionEarlier this year, the Congressional Budget Office too another look at Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act .Guess what. The CBO Revised the Cost of Biden’s Energy Policies Up by $466 Billion
The cost estimate of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act coupled with EPA mandates, just jumped by $466 billion.
A Blue State ExodusMeanwhile please note A Blue State Exodus: Who Can Afford to Be a Liberal?
Is the blue state exodus from California, New York, and Illinois making red states like Florida, Texas, and South Carolina more liberal? Studies suggest the answer is no.
Let’s check in on Illinois.
When Do Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago Finally Implode?On November 25, I asked When Do Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago Finally Implode?
Chicago slashed 2,103 public safety job but added 184 administrators. The budget deficit is nearly $1 billion.
It’s HopelessDespite the massive stock market boom, the Chicago Firefighters pension is only 21.6 percent funded.Police is 31.1 percent funded. The Teachers’ pension is only 43.4 percent funded.Back at the national level, please see my August 26, 2023 report on The Shocking Truth About Biden’s Proposed Energy Fuel Standards
Here is the NHTSA’s bottom line: “Net benefits for passenger cars remain negative across alternatives” vs doing nothing at all.
Costs are always much greater than expected, and in this case we are already starting from a negative benefit.
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