What if we could peer into the future and see the consequences of the decisions we make today? In a way, we can.
According to Washington state economists, a carbon tax high enough to achieve Gov. Jay Inslee’s stated climate change goals would increase gasoline prices almost 60 percent over time and raise natural gas prices — currently our most affordable energy — nearly 35 percent. The carbon tax is only one part of Inslee’s climate change agenda. How much will the rest of it cost Washington families?
At this point, we don’t know precisely how the governor’s energy agenda will affect our economy. But we can see that a misguided and mismanaged “green” agenda can cripple a nation’s economy and stick struggling families with the bill.
Germany has launched a program to virtually eliminate the use of fossil fuel and nuclear energy by 2050. Called Energiewende, or energy revolution, it seeks to build a nationwide infrastructure of wind and solar power at an estimated cost of one trillion euros. Chancellor Angela Merkel says, “No country of Germany’s scale has pursued such a radical shift in its energy supply.”