William Ellard

My U.S. Infrastructure and Employment Plan

"40 million low income Americans already pay no income taxes so replacing income tax with a carbon tax is not revenue neutral to these people."

Derryl:
Thanks for your thoughts. The above is not correct - it is hard to give my full view in a small article. Here is more of my tax shift from my article I wrote for seekingalpha on the Pickens plan:

"To offset the regressive nature of consumption taxes, the US could change the wage tax structure. Currently, low income earners pay 15.3% SS wage tax, and since the tax stops at around 100K, high wage earners pay a much smaller %. A new structure could be the first 12K of w-2 with a zero SS tax rate, then 15% up to 150K of w-2 income. With the above consumption tax revenue, the income tax rates could be lower at all levels."

I also am not in favor of a carbon tax - but a tax on NOx, SOx, and mercury. Here is an article about the REAL cost to us citizens from pollution:

"The study, which examined the costs of air pollution in two areas with the worst levels in the country, also said meeting federal ozone and fine particulate standards could save $28 billion annually in health care costs, school absences, missed work and lost income potential from premature deaths."

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20...

My U.S. Infrastructure and Employment Plan

Tomas and Creative:
Thanks for the input. I also see the fast recharge electric engine as better than NG engines. NG would be the 10 year bridge to auto battery technology. The well to wheel efficiency is the best with electric.

Many others have seen solar, and wind as too expensive. This is not true. CSP(thermal) and new thin film CIGS solar technology are now at grid parity. Do your own due diligence, but this in not science fiction - but science fact.

Go to the NREL's web site to see some of the new technologies being developed as we speak. Also once we have cap n trade or pollution taxation - solar and wind will be the cheapest sources of grid electricity.

This plan is just a starting point for discussion. Many variations exist. These infra projects can only be done by the government. When it comes to the public good, or negative externalities - only the US can come in and help create free efficient markets.

Let keep the dialog going - send this plan or your version of an infrastructure plan to Obama's economic team. Ideas from the ground up seem to be the most powerful!