The double-dividend hypothesis' suggests that increased taxes on polluting activities can provide two kinds of benefits. The first is an improvement in the environment, and the second is an improvement in economic efficiency from the use of environmental tax revenues to reduce other taxes such as income taxes that distort labor supply and saving decisions.
...in practice:
Ohio voters back Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to raise taxes on shale fracking and use the revenue for an across-the-board state income tax cut, a new poll released today indicates.
“This looks like an issue on which Gov. Kasich has the voters behind him,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, which has been taking surveys in Ohio for several years.
Sixty percent approve of Kasich’s plan, 32 percent are against, the poll shows.
The Republican governor’s proposal is stalled in the GOP-controlled legislature, with several lawmakers worried about increasing any taxes. Kasich has said with energy companies poised to pull billions of dollars worth of oil and gas from the shale underneath Ohio, they can stand to pay more than 20 cents a barrel.
The measure gets support from voters of all stripe: 54 percent to 36 percent among Republicans, 65 percent to 28 percent among Democrats and 63 percent to 29 percent among independents.
via www.dispatch.com
