taxes posts, articles, and infographics

Range Fuels Bankruptcy Harms Biofuels Industry

December 19, 2011 by Robert Rapier
with 648 views

Recently it was announced that Range Fuels has gone into foreclosure, thus marking the official end of their story. For all practical purposes, the company has been finished since early 2011, but the foreclosure puts an end to the notion that they will yet rise triumphant from the ashes. Last week, Heather Duncan — a reporter for The... [read more]

Gas Taxes v. CAFE Regulations

August 9, 2011 by Michael Giberson
with 367 views

Most of the current 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax is set to expire at the end of September, and there are some indications that it may become the occasion for the next big political fight in Congress. See Politico and Platts for background. Grover Nordquist, of Americans for Tax Reform, says a vote to keep the current... [read more]

Mired in Tight Race, Ohio Gov. Strickland Does Away with Renewable Energy Taxes

September 30, 2010 by Tim Hurst
with 633 views

The State of Ohio on Wednesday took a big step toward lowering the barriers to entry for building/installing renewable energy facilities across the state. Governor Ted Strickland issued an Executive Order eliminating the state’s tangible personal tax and real property tax for advanced and renewable energy project facilities. The move... [read more]

Exxon Mobil paid no federal income tax in 2009

April 6, 2010 by Joseph Romm
with 427 views

The joke goes, The economy is so bad Exxon Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen. If only. Turns out the economy is never really bad for the oil giant, and the last thing they would want to do is cut off support to members of Congress who allow them to pull off the remarkable trick of making $45 billion in profits last year but paying no... [read more]

Deficits and Energy

February 3, 2010 by Geoffrey Styles
with 167 views

After reading several articles about the administration's proposed 2011 fiscal-year budget, I decided to look through the figures myself. My primary interest was in finding indications of what might lie in store for energy-related taxes and incentives. However, once I noticed how the projected deficits accumulate and examined the... [read more]

Wind Tax Windfalls, Nuclear Tax Burdens

January 7, 2010 by John Wheeler
with 140 views

This Week in Nuclear Episode #78 – MP3 File In this episode of This Week in Nuclear I interview Joseph Somsel, the author of “How Taxes Pervert Our Energy Choices”. Our discussion covered a wide range of topics including: How favorably short depreciation schedules for wind have created a “gold mine” for investors,... [read more]

A Mere Annoyance - "A Missed Opportunity on Climate Change" in NYTimes

August 9, 2009 by RyanAvent
with 82 views

I have to give Greg Mankiw credit. Since the last time he discussed the climate legislation making its way through the Congress (an effort with which I was none too pleased) he seems to have taken some of my criticisms to heart. In his column in today’s Times, he acknowledges that blame for many or most of the bill’s imperfections can... [read more]

Why a VMT?

July 20, 2009 by RyanAvent
with 114 views

Many commenters in the toll technology post are asking what the point of a vehicle miles traveled tax would be. Several things to note. First, as I mentioned in the original post, this technology might also make it easier to do congestion tolling, which would be of enormous economic and environmental benefit. Second, I think we should... [read more]

In Response to Congresswoman Virginia Foxx on Cap-and-Trade

June 22, 2009 by John Whitehead
with 206 views

Last week ago today I received an email via my Congresswoman Virginia Foxx’s email distribution list. The subject was “Solving our energy crisis without destroying North Carolina jobs.” The point of the piece is to argue against the cap-and-trade regulatory scheme of the energy bill currently being debated in Congress. I find the... [read more]

Well-intentioned, but slightly misguided, opinion on higher gas prices

February 25, 2009 by Tim Haab
with 92 views

From the Christian Science Monitor, via Yahoo!: Remember last summer, when gas prices broke new records every day and the era of "energy independence" was on the horizon? Gas is half what it was then, but not for long. When OPEC's planned production cuts hit, tightening the global supply of oil just when economies are poised to resume... [read more]

Well, That Didn’t Last Long

February 20, 2009 by RyanAvent
with 120 views

So long, VMT tax: President Barack Obama will not adopt a policy to tax motorists based on how many miles they drive instead of how much gasoline they buy, his chief spokesman said Friday… “It is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration,” Gibbs told reporters, when asked for the president’s thoughts about the policy... [read more]

So far the Stimulus Bill looks like a major disappointment

February 11, 2009 by ChrisSchultz
with 77 views

Change may have happened at the top, but both the lower and upper houses of our Congress still suck. If you peruse The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 you will see many pork projects brought to you by House Democrats and a huge amount of the bill dedicated to tax cuts, brought to you primarily by Republicans, who year... [read more]

Faster Senate

February 3, 2009 by RyanAvent
with 134 views

Original here. So long as we’re talking about stimulus, it’s worth noting that the CBO released its cost estimate for the Senate version of the package. Interestingly, it’s a little faster in delivering; where about 64% of the stimulus comes by the end of the 2010 fiscal year in the House version, 78% of the Senate bill’s punch is... [read more]