One narrative about the Yellow Vest protests in France is that politicians should not adopt energy taxes to change behaviors that lead to climate change. In this telling, the political costs of wise energy policy are too high. This is an overly simple reading of the French experience and is a convenient excuse for those […]
The new administration in Washington is filled with climate change deniers. They reject the consensus among scientists that human behaviors emitting greenhouse gases contribute significantly to climate change. The reality — climate change is part of a larger problem better known as global change. Over 9 billion humans, many living relatively sumptuous lifestyles like ours […]
In this season of interminable political ads, one Bruce Poliquin TV ad berates his opponent Emily Cain for supporting a “national energy tax.” The ad says such a tax would be bad for Maine. I do not know whether Emily Cain supports a national energy tax or not, but I do. Contrary to the Poliquin […]
It is common for politicians and media writers to speak of a dichotomy between free markets and government regulation. Proponents of free markets argue that they create economic opportunities and generate efficiency in the overall economy. Those favoring government regulation believe it creates economic fairness, worker rights, or environmental protection. The reality is that the […]
I had argued last November that Now Is the Time to Raise the Gas Tax. So I was pleased to hear that the Legislature’s Transportation Committee is thinking about this very policy. Motor fuels taxes are the best way to fund highway maintenance and repairs: They are fair. Users who put more strain on bridges […]
Cosmologist Stephen Hawking recently told the BBC that most threats to humans now come from science and technology. He surmised that the 21st Century will be the most dangerous for humans because of the very progress we have made in science and technology. There’s irony for you. When I saw this headline, I was reminded […]
We lost power for 19 hours in last weekend’s storm. Early Monday morning when I went outside I could hear the hum of generators in every direction on my rural Maine road. I was a little envious. The inconvenience of lugging water stored to flush the toilet, stoking the wood stove for heat, and storing […]
It is never a good time for legislators and governors to raise taxes, particularly if you ever hope to run for public office again. But taxes are necessary evils in societies that provide their citizens public goods, like roads, schools, parks, and national defense. Motor fuels taxes, more often called the gas tax, are particularly […]
Unlike Maine Governor Paul LePage, I believe that when it comes to energy policy you can “fix stupid,” assuming we know who specifically needs to be fixed. The reality is that Maine’s energy challenges are not as simple as the governor would have us believe; they are part of a much larger national and global […]
The term “renewable” is now magical when applied to energy policy. We understand intuitively that fossil fuels are fixed, not renewable. Even if they are abundant now, every bit of coal, oil, or natural gas we use means there is less available, and their use causes a host of environmental and national security problems. If […]
