Energy/resources can't vote, but they can fund campaigns easier than labor. There's also some complications around taxing energy/resources since some businesses operate on thin margins. Not that taxing labor is simple, but taxing energy isn't as simple as tacking on a tax per kWh.
Eg smelting aluminum is extremely energy intensive and important (gotta recycle those cans), but I bet their margins are awful and further I would bet that "energy/resources" comprises the majority of their expenditure (that basically only leaves wages as untaxed).
It's certainly not impossible, it's how we did taxes up til the New Deal, but we would need to be very careful not to crash essential, energy-intensive industries like metal smelting.
Comments
Energy/resources can't vote, but they can fund campaigns easier than labor. There's also some complications around taxing energy/resources since some businesses operate on thin margins. Not that taxing labor is simple, but taxing energy isn't as simple as tacking on a tax per kWh.
Eg smelting aluminum is extremely energy intensive and important (gotta recycle those cans), but I bet their margins are awful and further I would bet that "energy/resources" comprises the majority of their expenditure (that basically only leaves wages as untaxed).
It's certainly not impossible, it's how we did taxes up til the New Deal, but we would need to be very careful not to crash essential, energy-intensive industries like metal smelting.