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Taxes
The United States, like many developed nations, taxes work. The harder one works, the more they create, the more they must pay in tax. Purchases are taxed, by states and local governments, but the rate is relatively small, usually between 5-8 percent. Thus, the U.S. taxation system favors people spend every cent they make on whatever they can find, regardless of environmental impact.
Consumption patterns would change dramatically if work was not taxed at all, but rather, we were taxed on how much stuff we buy, and whether that stuff is sustainable or not. This concept is known as a national sales tax. Supporters say that a national sales tax of around 23% could completely replace the income tax, payroll tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and self-employment tax in the United States.
A secondary goal of taxation is to encourage sustainable practices. Energy policy is a perfect example of opportunities for beneficial taxation. For instance, a big, polluting sport-utility vehicle should be taxed at a higher rate than an equally valuable sedan which uses far less fuel and has lower emissions.
Petroleum taxes in the United States are lower than in Canada and Europe, averaging about 15% of the price in 2007. However, since a large amount of that money goes back into road building, a huge part of that is a subsidy to the oil and gas industry. Smarter energy taxes would put that money into building alternatives to fossil-fuel powered vehicles. Even the ultra-libertarian think tank the Reason Foundation says the U.S. should hike fuel taxes by 50%.
Smarter tax policies can profoundly change housing, too. For instance, a 4,000-square foot house located on prime farmland and made from virgin timber should be taxed at a higher rate than a co-housing unit made from recycled products and built in a brownfields site.
Also, disposable products should be taxed at a much higher rate than a comparable, but high-quality and durable, item.
Food taxes should encourage healthy diets; for instance:
- Tax junk foods like soda, cookies, fast-food--and luxury foods like pate' and caviar--highest. Perhaps base food taxes on fat or sugar content.
- Tax meat products and use the money to clean up meat-industry environmental disasters and pay for better treatment of animals.
- Tax hydrogenated fat and use the money to research its affect on cardiovascular disease.
- Tax high-fructose corn syrup and use the money to fight diabetes.