it's a way of giving the government unearned money to help pay for the freeway system and bailouts to gm and airlines, effectively doing nothing

Exactly! 👍 Thank you Rod, you will find these beliefs in a dimension not only of sight and sound...but of morons

a tax is not gonna curb climate change. people will still depend on cars as a form of transportation and coal as a form of energy. if the taxes are too high, they'll start an insurrection or a mass exodus

A carbon tax would prod consumers and industries to take a hard look at their CO2-emitting activities and cut down or eliminate the unnecessary or economically-inefficient ones

It is a market-driven approach to the greenhouse gas problem that is less punitive than other suggested options such as shutting down coal plants by force or banning airplanes

it'll cut the economy by putting poorer consumers (who can just afford a car and electricity) into debt. there are barely any efficient alternatives to transportation in the states on a broad scale, and the ones being built take too long because of how inefficient our government is.

it'll only benefit the government, not the people.

The carbon tax could be designed to avoid regressive effects or simply include a direct rebate to the poor.

The world’s poor will also suffer the most when global warming really starts to bite.

there are better solutions to fight global warming than a carbon tax

Such as?

private rail companies. don't rely on taxes, alternative to cars, excellent in urban corridors where cars are dense in traffic.

Except pretty much all were private when they first started. Gov't had to step in and takeover as they failed to generate sufficient money.

...during the great depression. they were economic power back in the day. japan and hong kong are able to generate money from private rail transit

Yeah, because there was no minumum wage and no high tenement rent & bills for poor immigrants to pay.

From the MTA to Amtrak and all in between, those were all originally privately owned before goverment had to step in and rescue them.

Don't know what's going with Japan and HK, but given the usual gov't subsidies, doubt that generating money is basic free market. Then again, for example, public transport in NYC, despite getting ever higher, is cheaper than in other countries ayways. Given the recent rise in fare jumping and decreasing ridership after it had been growing in recent years, doubt raising fares is something the public would hop on.

"The stimulation is temporary, coming from construction of the railroad itself."

have you ever heard of transit-oriented development? rail is very efficient for travelers who don't own a car, and it encourages better use of space.

"Florida gets an infusion of money from the Federal Goverment.
I just learned a few days ago that unlike other States where HUD supplied the funding, NYC's Projects were built primarily with local gov't funding."

one of the main reason that rail is government funded these days is because the government also put the freeways and airports in place, discouraging people from using public transportation.

"You can buy a house in Fla for what a driveway would cost in the worst part of the Bronx, rent one for less than you can rent a bathroom here."

well, i admit that the housing in florida will get cheaper once people start moving (dying) out as a result of the elderly taking high residence in florida.

"Yeah, because there was no minumum wage and no high tenement rent & bills for poor immigrants to pay."

Our receding, dice-roll economy is the reason for the unreasonable high value in money. One reason our economy is horrible is because of the lack of stimulation, which is what rail provides. Unfortunately, the government can't run rail properly because it's already investing funds in being inefficient, particularly funding roads and highways. Private companies, under american free market, have real initiative. Take a look at the privately-run Brightline in south-central Florida vs. the publicly funded California CSR. Construction for Brightline began in 2014, while CSR began construction in 2015. However, Brightline got a train up and running in early 2018 between Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, extending the line to Downtown Miami later on, while CSR were still working on a set of tracks between Merced and Bakersfield, placing the tracks in a corridor that was hardly dense compared to a Los Angeles-San Diego route.

"Don't know what's going with Japan and HK, but given the usual gov't subsidies, doubt that generating money is basic free market."

HK's rail company is so profitable, it subsidizes the government.

"Then again, for example, public transport in NYC, despite getting ever higher, is cheaper than in other countries ayways."

problem with NYC's transit is that it makes 2 miles of tunnel extension into $4 billion. comparing that to Brightline again, brightline's millions for a miami-orlando route was a breath of fresh air.

The stimulation is temporary, coming from construction of the railroad itself.

Just like the booming new housing developments in Florida, Arizona, Nevada of a decade ago... towns entirely dependent on construction as their chief economic engine. Once the space for houses runs out, so does the money flow, and thus the town collapses sooner than you can say "2008"

Florida gets an infusion of money from the Federal Goverment.
I just learned a few days ago that unlike other States where HUD supplied the funding, NYC's Projects were built primarily with local gov't funding.

You can buy a house in Fla for what a driveway would cost in the worst part of the Bronx, rent one for less than you can rent a bathroom here.
Lots of empty space is cheaper to build on and through then places where one block has a greater population than what some States call "cities." Higher costs don't come from lack of forsight, they come from things being more expensive to start with.

than* places

foresight*

(my typos - no reply options left for me)

I mean that’s certainly a very sensible step and fine by me

But unfortunately: really getting a handle on CO2 emissions is going to require much wider reaching systemic changes than just that

Emissions from personal automobiles are only a small piece of the puzzle

private solar/wind power companies?

Here’s an even better chart illustrating the greenhouse gas problem by sector (U.S., 2017)

When you graduate high school, pop your mommy’s tit out your mouth, get a job, move out and start PAYING taxes, your know it all, no experience, chart making smart ass will sing a different tune.

Nice try. But I’ve been in the workforce for years, my wife and I both pay taxes and it’s not so bad