Another Dim View of Virginia's Energy Sales Tax Holiday

By: TheGreenMiles
Published On: 10/4/2007 11:13:55 AM

The latest slam of Virginia's upcoming Energy Sales Tax Holiday comes from today's Roanoke Times:
Lawmakers were a few bulbs short of an economy pack when they decided that the best way to encourage Virginians to conserve energy is to send them shopping for tax-free dishwashers.

It's irritating enough to think of the gasoline burned as Virginians jump in their SUVs and race from store to store saving pennies on paddle fans this weekend. What's worse is that this is what passes for the state's energy conservation policy.

As I said last month, the Energy Tax Holiday is not the most well-thought-out of ideas.  Even Gov. Kaine's recently-released energy plan doesn't go nearly far enough.

Virginia needs to get serious about shifting its energy economy from ever-expanding reliance on fossil fuels to efficient use of renewable energy.  Until then, as the Times suggests, we're just throwing a few nickels and dimes at the problem.

[UPDATE by Lowell:  I strongly agree with "The Green Miles" on this.  What Virginia needs is not a several-day tax holiday for energy efficiency, it needs a TOTAL PARADIGM SHIFT on energy and the environment, one that will lead to a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 80% by 2030.  Right now, we're not even close to getting there.  How about a large tax break EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR for purchasing energy efficient equipment.  How to pay for it?  How about an offsetting tax on energy inefficient equipment?  Revenue neutral, but it gets the job done.]

Comments



Agree with Lowell: Paradigm Shift Needed (KathyinBlacksburg - 10/4/2007 12:14:24 PM)
My husband and I updated our HVAC to a high efficiency one while the old one still worked.  It was the right thing to do.  Though it was running well,
it was not very efficient.  Actually, it was not efficient at all.  Even when new (30 years ago), it was probably not much more than 60% efficient.  While we took good care of it, the current numbers were likely worse than that. We did this replacement at considerable sacrifice, and at the expense of some other things we'd have liked to do. 

We recently replaced our refrigerator.  I was surprised about how many models were not Energy Star rated.  We paid a bit more to buy a more efficient model, again at a cost to other things we might rather do with our money.

Those who look to save energy are going to do so regardless of some arbitrary sales three-day tax "holiday."

For those, who won't put important things live conservation higher on their lists, no token three-day tax holiday will change anything.

My point is, while real tax breaks might help increase energy-wise purchases, they won't by themselves get sufficient compliance.  At least that's true in terms of incentives most frequently batted around.

And while, as a psychologist, I think incentives can make sense, I also think our good citizenship should kick in as well.