By Arthur Hendrickson
Many who have been serving in the Vermont Legislature have been proposing a carbon tax. Vermont already is the lowest producer of carbon in the United States. Even though Vermont uses more heating oil per capita than some other states it does not deserve being taxed. It is time for a reality check at who’s burning up the resources and creating carbon pollution.
Jet fuel (kerosene) and No. 2 heating oil (diesel fuel) are very close in their amounts of CO2 (carbon) with jet fuel having slightly less. This can be looked up in the Emissions Factors For Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Table 1 (stationary) and Table 2 (mobile), chosen for setting the tax by the 2015-2016 Legislature in House Carbon Tax Bill H.412. A lot of Vermont homes with outside fuel tanks use kerosene (jet fuel) in place of heating oil in their furnaces.
Airplane fuel tank capacities are very large. Examples of fuel tank size are the Boeing 777-300 fuel tank which holds 47,890 gallons, a Boeing 747-400 holds 57,285 gallons and an Airbus A380-800 holds 84,600 gallons. Most household fuel tanks hold 275 gallons. A Boeing 747-400 uses 3,250 gallons in an hour. Half the homes and businesses in Vermont use fuel oil and average 928.5 gallons in a year each. A Boeing 747-400 flying from New York to Hong Kong takes 16 hours and uses 52,000 gallons of fuel. That is enough fuel to heat 56 homes for a year and all it does is get 340 people to China. Knowing the extent of carbon produced by aircraft is so huge compared to heating a house, it makes no sense that the solution to global warming is a carbon tax on the heating oil. Jet fuel is included in the carbon tax bill, but you can bet the airlines would buy it elsewhere if instituted.
I only mentioned the heating oil aspect of the bill. There are many other factors that would lessen the quality of our lives. There is an affordability problem to live in Vermont. It is ridiculous that a Vermont carbon tax, that would only be a nuisance to the rich and a burden on the rest, would save the world. Some of our legislators are out of touch with reality. The 2015-2016 Carbon Tax Bill H.412 has a list of 26 sponsors at the top. I would suggest that you consider looking at it before choosing for whom you vote.
Hendrickson lives in Moretown
