Dec 6, 2018 07:39 PM
https://earther.gizmodo.com/frances-gas-...1830877858
EXCERPT: France has turned into a bubbling cauldron of unrest over the past month as the so-called yellow vest movement has put up roadblocks and taken to the streets to protest a gas tax. Last week’s protests turned violent and facing a crisis, the government of Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday it would put a six-month moratorium on the tax.
The tax was meant to combat climate change and reduce carbon pollution. While it likely would’ve done that, it would’ve done so on the backs of France’s rural low and middle class. [...] The French government has spent years promoting diesel, and the tax would’ve left many already struggling to make ends meet with higher fuel bills on vehicles they’ve been encouraged to buy. The money it raised would also have been used to combat the national deficit, which has been made worse in part by the Macron government’s policies, like lifting portions of a wealth tax. In short, the gas tax was a technocratic fix without any real constituency and the benefits were poorly explained, leaving it open to criticism and protest.
The fight against the tax is not a fight against climate policy, however. “We are not against the ecology, on the contrary,” Benoit Julou, a spokesperson for the yellow vest movement [...] “Governments need to communicate clearly [...]” Alexander Reitzenstein, a policy advisor [...said...] “The French government did not provide a credible plan for how to compensate particularly poorer households. Poor households are often most affected by higher fuel prices, higher electricity bills or higher costs for keeping homes warm.”
MORE: https://earther.gizmodo.com/frances-gas-...1830877858
EXCERPT: France has turned into a bubbling cauldron of unrest over the past month as the so-called yellow vest movement has put up roadblocks and taken to the streets to protest a gas tax. Last week’s protests turned violent and facing a crisis, the government of Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday it would put a six-month moratorium on the tax.
The tax was meant to combat climate change and reduce carbon pollution. While it likely would’ve done that, it would’ve done so on the backs of France’s rural low and middle class. [...] The French government has spent years promoting diesel, and the tax would’ve left many already struggling to make ends meet with higher fuel bills on vehicles they’ve been encouraged to buy. The money it raised would also have been used to combat the national deficit, which has been made worse in part by the Macron government’s policies, like lifting portions of a wealth tax. In short, the gas tax was a technocratic fix without any real constituency and the benefits were poorly explained, leaving it open to criticism and protest.
The fight against the tax is not a fight against climate policy, however. “We are not against the ecology, on the contrary,” Benoit Julou, a spokesperson for the yellow vest movement [...] “Governments need to communicate clearly [...]” Alexander Reitzenstein, a policy advisor [...said...] “The French government did not provide a credible plan for how to compensate particularly poorer households. Poor households are often most affected by higher fuel prices, higher electricity bills or higher costs for keeping homes warm.”
MORE: https://earther.gizmodo.com/frances-gas-...1830877858