Oregon shares two realities with Washington State. First, as is the case in Washington, liberal billionaire Tom Steyer is pumping money into Oregon’s state elections. Second, as is the case with Washington, Oregon’s governor (John Kitzhaber) has an extreme gas tax scheme… a scheme he attempted to keep under wraps.
The Oregonian (via a guest columnist) recently revealed Kitzhaber’s plans to move forward with a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) that, if implemented, “will become a new hidden gasoline tax designed to increase the cost of fuel and decrease the bank accounts of everyday motorists and businesses who rely on transportation.” The Oregonian,
Here’s the dirty little secret the politicians don’t want to talk about: All of these policies are going to make it more costly to produce gasoline and diesel. In fact, that’s the intended purpose of so-called “market-based” schemes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By making the energy we need and use every day more costly to produce, other energy supplies — like wind, solar, biofuels and hydrogen fuel cells — will become more competitive. And where these programs have been implemented — such as in California — they are also conveniently generating billions of dollars in new revenue for the state to spend however it pleases. That’s why climate-change policies like cap and trade and LCFS are becoming Trojan horses for hidden taxes. These revenue programs provide limited environmental benefits but generate big political paydays.
During its last session, Oregon’s Legislature “declined to extend authorization for the LCFS.” However, under Kitzhaber’s “unilateral direction,” Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality is “adopting rules to push the LCFS forward.” Essentially, Kitzhaber will pursue his plan for a LCFS “even without the support of the state’s elected legislators.”
Sound like any other governor with an extreme environmental agenda… like, say, Jay Inslee?
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