Increase Taxes by $1,263 at Fifth Year, with a Loss of 18,000+ Private Sector Jobs

The Fiscal Alliance Foundation today announced the results of a study into the effects of H.2810, An Act to Promote Green Infrastructure and Reduce Carbon Emissions, introduced by state representative Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenburg). 

Rep. Benson’s bill has 108 co-sponsors, which constitutes a majority of the Massachusetts legislature. The study was commissioned by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation and conducted by The Beacon Hill Institute.

The study found that the average Massachusetts household will see its tax bill increase by $755 in the first year alone. By the fifth year, that annual tax load will increase to $1,263. In addition, Massachusetts would see a loss of 11,090 private sector jobs in its first year, increasing to 18,240 by its fifth.

The Beacon Hill Institute used the Dynamic Integrated model of Climate and the Economy (DICE) 2017 model, crafted by Nobel Laureate William Norhaus of Yale University, to calculate the total social benefits of greenhouse gases for each year of its analysis, as conferred by H.2810. The model is considered the gold-standard for climate change analysis.

Under the provisions of the bill, the environmental benefits to the Commonwealth would be insignificant. Massachusetts accounts for only 0.12% of global GHG emissions, meaning the tax would reduce global emissions by 0.0027% in the first year of implementation, increasing to 0.0035% by the fifth year. Practically speaking, this diminutive benefit would not mitigate sea water levels, cure asthma, or impact the daily lives of any person or living creature on earth. Rep. Benson’s carbon tax does not factor the most obvious barrier, which is that Massachusetts cannot control what air enters the state and what air leaves the state.

The study conducted by The Beacon Hill Institute, found the tax to be excessive, would directly lead to the loss of a significant number of private sector jobs, and yield a negligible environmental benefit.

“On the matter of climate change, politicians have reached a point where they will throw anything they have at the problem without a thought to the economic consequences or, for that matter, the actual effects on climate change,” noted David G. Tuerck, President of The Beacon Hill Institute.

The Fiscal Alliance Foundation teamed up with the Beacon Hill Institute to help answer those questions. This study now provides the public an understanding for how much this carbon tax would cost each household and to what little environmental benefit that cost would yield.   

“Rep. Benson’s proposed Massachusetts carbon tax is another example of a reckless policy proposal, echoing many points found in Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, which is clearly conceived without a thought to its consequences. Massachusetts residents who want to do something about carbon emissions should shift their attention to the federal level, or internationally, where the possibility of effective change is greater,” concluded Paul D. Craney, spokesperson for the Fiscal Alliance Foundation. 

To download a copy of the study, please click here.

To read an op-ed by Laurie Belsito, Legislative Director of the Fiscal Alliance Foundation and David Tuerck, President of The Beacon Hill Institute, please click here.