On Tuesday, billionaire Bill Gates…
Let me say that one more time, if for no other reason, for myself…
Billionaire Bill Gates…
That would be, billion.
How much is a billion? It’s one thousand million.
Anyway, billionaire Bill endorsed an increase in gas prices in Washington state.
Does a billionaire ever have any business telling regular people to pay more money?
The Microsoft founder threw his support behind a carbon emissions fee in order to fight the planetary threat of global warming.
He explained in a blog post:
“Here in Washington state, climate change is on the ballot. If Initiative 1631 passes in November, it will create a fee on emissions that cause climate change, with the goal of boosting the effort to stop the planet from getting disastrously warm.”
If the bill passes, a fee of $15 per metric ton of carbon emissions will be heaped upon utilities and refineries. Yearly $2 increases will follow.
According to Resources for the Future, the price of gas will subsequently rise by 13 cents per gallon.
As I understand it, Bill and his wife are extremely generous. In fact, he’s putting some money where his mouth is on the issue:
“I am involved with a private fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, that is investing more than $1 billion to help entrepreneurs start new companies that will develop those breakthroughs.”
However, until he and Melinda give away every dime above the average American annual household income of $48,000, in my opinion, they have no place telling others to pay more in (essentially) taxes. Advocating for tax hikes doesn’t strike me as palatable when the people are living in a $125 million home.
Furthermore, let’s all remember the dependability of climate experts. From Newsweek, April 28, 1975:
See 3 more pieces from me: bad religion at the Met Gala, Deadpool 2 and the changing world, and a beached wail.
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