BRATTLEBORO — Sandy Golden's instincts to protect the poor, the elderly, and those with disabilities are instincts many of us have. I strongly disagree, however, with her assertion that a tax on carbon pollution would “brutalize” those groups.
It is true that such a tax would raise the price of fossil fuels, such as home heating oil and propane. That is clearly its intent, as it is meant to discourage the consumption of such carbon-based fuels.
If designed correctly and fairly, however, new benefits will counteract the costs.
For example, individual taxpayers would get either a personal income-tax exemption or a direct payment to help offset the tax. Additionally, a portion of the tax revenues (10 percent, in the version being proposed for Vermont) could go toward the very programs that would help consumers - including the poor - cut down on the amount of heating fuel they need.
Money toward making homes more weather tight or toward non-fossil-fuel-based home-heating systems is one of the very foundations of the proposal.
The people backing the tax on carbon pollution also have parents and might have indigent relatives or people they know with disabilities. Why would they ever want to brutalize them?
I think it is important to keep in mind that climate change brutalizes people, quite often the poor. Tropical Storm Irene did exactly that. Other local, intense storms have done exactly that. Intense heat waves can do that.
If we don't want to brutalize our most vulnerable neighbors, we need to take thoughtful and meaningful action, like a tax on carbon pollution.