Swiss Nix Carbon Tax Just Before Biden Arrival Just like everywhere else, voters are open to anti-carbon policy until they see the price tag. By James Freeman
Talk about awkward. Right after President Joe Biden and other leaders of advanced economies celebrated their expensive climate promises in Brussels, Mr. Biden had to fly to Switzerland—where voters have just rejected expensive climate promises made by the country’s politicians.
Judging by the photograph accompanying this column, Swiss Federal President Guy Parmelin and President Biden kept things cheerful and may have done their best to avoid the topic as they discussed Wednesday’s planned meeting in Geneva between Mr. Biden and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.
But to the extent that Mr. Biden is aware of where he is and what’s just happened at the polls, he must be disappointed. John Revill of Reuters reports from Zurich:
Swiss voters rejected a trio of environmental proposals on Sunday, including a new law intended to help the country meet its goal for cutting carbon emissions under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change…
The result was a defeat for the Swiss government which supported the new law that included measures such as increasing a surcharge on car fuel and imposing a levy on flight tickets.
The rejection meant it would now be “very difficult” for Switzerland to reach its 2030 goal of cutting carbon emissions to half of their 1990 levels and to be become net neutral on emissions by 2050, Environment Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said.
Mr. Revill adds:
Also rejected was a proposal which would have made Switzerland only the second country in the world to ban artificial pesticides outright, and another proposal to reduce their use by redirecting subsidies to farmers who no longer used the chemicals.
As for the Swiss rejection of the costly new climate plan, the BBC notes:
Many voters appear to have worried about the impact on the economy as the country tries to recover from Covid-19.
Opponents also pointed out that Switzerland is responsible for only 0.1% of global emissions, and expressed doubts that such policies would help the environment.
Their concerns are valid on all counts, and no doubt many U.S. voters share similar concerns about the tax-heavy Biden plan to fund a transition away from fossil fuels.
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