Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bill Huff, of Thetford Center, who is a retired certified financial planner and airline captain.
[E]veryday Vermonters realize that a tax on gas and heating oil will leave us all with less money in our pockets. The carbon tax is meant to be punitive. It’s supposed to force consumers to swap to electric vehicles. Most people that are inclined to buy an electric vehicle probably already have them. Any change in the ratio of electric vehicles to gas-powered vehicles, prompted by a carbon tax, would be minimal and the resulting effect on the rate of temperature change, infinitesimal. Make no mistake however, the financial drain on every Vermonter would be real, immediate and substantial.
If your business uses a large truck, bulldozer, or any piece of heavy equipment, it can’t be replaced with an equivalent electric vehicle. These businesses would be forced to pay thousands of dollars more in taxes and have no choice but to pass on those costs to consumers. Further, they would be unable to compete with any business from a surrounding state that wouldn’t be subject to the tax. Vermont stores that sell gasoline all along the Connecticut River Valley would be hurt with the double whammy of a sales tax and a carbon tax compared to neighbors.
The latest proposal would rebate some of your electric bill to make up for money paid out in a carbon tax. For most Vermonters, and most every business, a smaller electric bill wouldn’t nearly make up for the additional carbon tax paid.
Vermont has a lot of challenges ahead, the least of which is that we are not taxed enough already. The mandated cleanup of Lake Champlain, funding education, ending the opioid crisis, and countless other problems will all demand more tax money from Vermonters. We consistently have a budget gap of $30 million to $70 million a year. For the last decade, that shortfall has been made up from increases in taxes and fees. Enough already. I fully support Gov. Phill Scott’s ideas to make Vermont more affordable. I applaud his reluctance to accept a carbon tax as a means to that end.
There is plenty that can be done to help conserve energy and actually save money without doing harm to our economy. Local energy committees have done a lot to weatherize homes already and should continue to do so. It helps Vermonters pay less in energy costs and stay more comfortable in their homes. The Warm Home Bond Initiative is an idea that should be explored.
Rather than trying to pick winners and losers in the energy sector and pitting Vermonters against one another, we could accomplish more, faster, if we worked together on a few common-sense doable local projects.
