THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – Friday, July 12, 2019 Page 15 New study: Carbon tax bill is a high-tax proposal with insignificant environmental benefits B OSTON – On July 9 the Fiscal Alliance Foundation (the Foundation) announced the results of a study into the effects of H.2810, An Act to promote green infrastructure and reduce carbon emissions, which was introduced by State Representative Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenburg). Her bill has 108 cosponsors, which constitutes a majority of the Massachusetts legislature. The Foundation is an IRS-determined 501(c) 3 nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and its chairman is Danielle Webb, Esq. The study was commissioned by the Foundation and conducted by the Beacon Hill Institute (BHI). The study found that the average Massachusetts household would see its tax bill increase by $755 in the first year alone. By the fifth year, that annual tax load would 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. BHI used the Dynamic Integrated Climate-Economy model, JFK | FROM PAGE 5 in Brookline as his family began its rise to national prominence. Rose Kennedy returned to 83 Beals St. in 1967 to commemorate her son’s life, recreating his birthplace to her recollection of its 1917 appearance. Today, National Park Rangers provide tours of the nineroom house where Kennedy family furnishings, photographs and mementos personally collected and arranged by Rose Kennedy are on exhibit. In addition to ranger-guided tours, John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS invites visitors to step back in time and share Rose Kennedy’s memories of her family’s early home via cell phone; normal usage rates apply. One can also take a virtual ranger-led tour of the site and another of the North Brookline neighborhood. To HEALTHCARE | FROM PAGE 2 Discontinuance requires CoPilot to improve its data breach– reporting procedures and to ensure its employees undergo annual training regarding the obligation to report data breaches. The AG’s office has entered into prior settlements with companies related to a failure to timely report a data breach and notify affected residents. In September 2018, AG Healey led a group of 51 attorneys general in reaching a $148 million settlement with Uber to which was crafted by 2018 Nobel Laureate William Nordhaus of Yale University, to calculate the total social benefits 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 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, meaning the tax would reduce global emissions by 0.0027 percent in the first year of implementation, increasing to 0.0035 percent 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. 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 Foundation teamed up with BHI to help answer questions regarding H.2810. The access these tours, dial 617992-9172. The tours can also be accessed via the web at https://jofi.oncell.com. During the May to October visitor season, National Park Rangers offer guided tours of the house and JFK’s boyhood neighborhood. Children ages five to 12 can participate in the site’s Junior Ranger program. Printed materials, including brochures and tour books, are available in Chinese, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Spanish and Vietnamese. John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS is located at 83 Beals St. in Brookline, Mass., just a half-mile walk from Coolidge Corner Station on the MBTA’s Green Line (C-Cleveland Circle). Free on-street parking is available on Beals Street for up to two hours. For more information please call (617) 5667937 or visit www.nps.gov/jofi. address the ride-sharing company’s failure to promptly report a data breach affecting its drivers and passengers. Consumers can visit the AG’s website for information about how to protect themselves if they believe their personal information has been compromised by a data breach. This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney Generals Jared Rinehimer and Sarah Petrie, with the assistance of Director of Data Privacy & Security Sara Cable – all of the AG’s Consumer Protection Division. study conducted by BHI found the tax to be excessive, and the tax would directly lead to the loss of a significant number of private sector jobs and yield a negligible environmental benefit. This study now provides the public with an understanding of how much this carbon tax would cost each household and what little environmental benefit that cost would yield. “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 NEW STUDY | SEE PAGE 20
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