Here’s how you reduce economic activity in the name of a cult
Green recovery or ‘nightmare’ for trade? Europe wants to tax emissions from ships
Europe’s plan to raise billions each year for coronavirus relief by charging ships for their pollution could inflame trade tensions at the worst moment for the global economy and set back efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
The European Commission is proposing to extend its Emissions Trading System (ETS) to shipping as one of a series of measures to help pay for rebuilding the EU economy, and to promote a green recovery from the crisis.
The European Union plans to spend 30% of its €750 billion ($889 billion) coronavirus recovery fund and next seven-year EU budget on climate-related projects in a bid to become the first carbon-neutral continent.
But the proposed shipping tax has run into fierce opposition from the industry, which says it would undermine efforts to tackle climate change at a global level and is likely to spark a backlash from non-EU countries, raising the specter of new trade disputes.
You know who pays for these taxes? Consumers. Not companies. Consumers pay in the form of higher prices.
Ships carry 80% of world goods trade by volume, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Any increase in costs from pollution charges could be passed on by operators to businesses and consumers in the form of higher prices.
Critics of the proposal say that countries outside the European Union are likely to view it as little more than a way to raise money. The European Commission has estimated that extending the ETS to the maritime sector and requiring airlines to pay more for their pollution could generate €10 billion ($11.8 billion) a year.
“This is an admission that this is not about climate whatsoever, it’s about raising funds,†said Lars Robert Pedersen, deputy secretary general of international shipping association BIMCO, which is headquartered in Copenhagen.
Hey, Europeans, this is what you vote for when you vote for far-left lunatics who believe in the what the Cult of Climastrology is pushing, so, don’t complain when it hits you in your wallet.
