Five Questions About the Carbon Tax

1.   What action has Exxon taken to promote a carbon tax?

They endorsed the CLC proposal and are putting up $1 million to lobby for it. 

2.  How does this article define a carbon tax?
-" a per-ton tax on the carbon dioxide emissions embedded in fuels or other products."

3.  What would be the predicted impact of a $50 per ton carbon tax?

"The tax would ultimately cover more than 80 percent of the economy’s total greenhouse gas emissions." and "emissions fall 39 to 46 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, putting the US well ahead of its pledged Paris goal of 26 to 28 percent by 2025. "

4.  How expensive would the tax need to be to reduce emissions by 80%?
It would need to exceed $100 per ton.

5.  Which industry would be most impacted by the implementation of a carbon tax?

Electricity would be most affected.

6. How would the carbon tax impact the transportation industry?
"...without commercially available liquid-fuel alternatives, the only way to reduce emissions quickly is to drive less, and driving behavior has proven resistant to price pressure."

7. Why is the carbon tax likely to be a regressive tax?

Since " It hits the poor harder than the rich because the poor spend a larger percentage of their income on energy services" it is regressive.

1. What is the last that anyone knows about journalist Jamal Khashoggi?
He was last seen  on October 2 whenever he was walking into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain a document verifying his divorce.
2. What does Turkey say happened?  What does Saudi Arabia say happened?
Turkey says they have concrete evidence he never left the building and was murdered there. Saudi Arabia says he left through a back entrance, but there is no evidence to corroborate that. 
3. Why would the Saudi Arabian government have motive to murder him?
He reported on the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and criticized his leadership, so he feared arrest and fled the country.
4. How has Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tried to change Saudi Arabia?
He has allowed women to drive and opened cinemas in the Kingdom, but has also championed a bloody war with Yemen.
5. How did Khashoggi come to work for The Washington Post instead of the Saudi paper Al Watan?
In the Saudi paper he would not be able to express his actual views on the prince because it is not allowed int he culture, so writing for Washington Post let him speak his mind freely.
6. Why did he visit the Saudi Consulate in Turkey?
He visited in order to file paperwork for his upcoming wedding to a Turkish woman.
7.  The US is an ally of both.  Why don't they get along?
"Turkey and Saudi Arabia already have a strained relationship. The gulf monarchy is engaged in an ongoing blockade of Qatar, one of Turkey’s allies, and Riyadh doesn’t agree with Turkey’s embrace of political Islam or its close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. "
8. How is the president responding to the issue?  How are Senators responding?
The President is still treating everyone as if relations are not strained and believes nothing should be broken while they investigate. Senators are taking this more seriously as an immediate break in the relationship if Saudi lured and murdered an American; they are also pushing Trump to impose sanctions on those involved.
9. Why doesn't the president want to cause too much trouble with Saudi Arabia?
He does not want to risk losing lucrative weapons sales to them.

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​1. What is the earliest that Brett Kavanaugh could join the Supreme Court if he is approved by the Senate? October 8th is the earliest he could be on the bench if the FBI does not turn anything up.    2. What does the Supreme Court do without a 9th justice? They just continue to work as the Supreme Court does, because they had only 8 before when someone had died. 3. What is the potential problem with having only 8 justices? The only problem would be if there is a 4-4 case and there is no tie breaker because of the even number. 4. How many cases are already scheduled to be heard by the Court? They already have six cases scheduled for week one and then five more the following week, then 6 more, and then another 6 all week after week. 5. If Judge Kavanaugh does join the Court, what happens to the cases that he has not heard? They just move on and he does not get to vote on those cases, especially because they'll likely be unanimous.  6. What is the upcoming Supreme Court case about that deals with the 8th amendment? They are voting on the idea if someone can be executed if they do not remember committing the crime after suffering several strokes.  7. What is the result if the Supreme Court decision is a 4-4 tie? Then the lower court's ruling will stay in effect.  ​