Tax reform colored Green

Interesting concept from David Freddoso at the Corner. He combines tax reformation with environmentalism. Doesn’t sound workable in practice to me, but any tax reform ideas always get my attention.

From the post:

At times — and not just after a few drinks — I’ve thought about what would happen if we scrap the income tax and go to an energy consumption tax. It would look a lot like the Fair Tax, with a pre-bate for basic levels of household energy usage. “The Green Fair Tax.” You’d pay all of your taxes at the pump and on your utility bill.

The benefits? Big energy users like Al Gore would pay tons in taxes, and normal people would pay very little. It would not distort markets as badly as our current tax code (almost nothing could). It would also be superior to a cap n’ trade system designed solely to benefit large corporations. The possibility is tempting because it could bring a lot of support from the Left as well.

Perhaps just a pipe-dream — but no harm in dreaming.