California Introduces ‘Global Warming Tax’ On Fuel

California has stepped up its fight against global warming with a new tax on fuel.

As global warming grows worse and threatens the planet, governments around the world are taking action to help end the global warming crisis leaving the United States trailing behind. But at least one state is not waiting on federal authorities to get serious about climate change, and they are taking action with a new global warming tax.

Technically speaking, the new global warming tax is not supposed to penalize regular consumers, but is a fee charged to the gasoline retailers when the distributors load the gas tanks; however, instead of paying this fee as intended, retailers are simply passing on the cost to the consumers to pay instead.

The end result of this new global warming fee is about an additional 10 cents per gallon for regular gasoline, with diesel fuel costs coming in at around 12 cents more for the wholesale prices. This also translates into a higher sales tax on gasoline, which is based on the total price per gallon, including all taxes and fees passed on by the retailers.

Critics argue that this simply is not enough, it just passes on a cost to already-strapped consumers, but does nothing to actually end the use of fossil fuels and to combat global warming, which is threatening the environment, water supplies, and food security. The argument is why the new global warming tax is not the only way that California is trying to fight climate change.

California Governor Jerry Brown, who was just sworn in for a fourth term, is calling for his state to “lead the way” in combating global warming, and in creating a cleaner and more sustainable future. As part of his overall approach, Brown is also calling for California to eliminate at least 50 percent of all fossil fuel used in the state by the year 2030. In just 15 years, he wants to see an end to costly and polluting gasoline-powered automobiles, increase the energy efficiency of homes and buildings around the state — making them more self-sufficient, and increase the use of renewable energy in order to reduce the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.

Some of these plans are already underway, like the new global warming fee, and others will be introduced in the coming year. Current estimates on the devastating effects of global warming show that there is more of the greenhouse gas — carbon dioxide — in the Earth’s atmosphere than there has ever been in over 800,000 years, and the United States alone is responsible for putting 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every single year. As a result, sea levels have risen by eight inches, and global temperatures have increaed by at least two degrees since 1950.

[Image: UTSanDiego]