[ad_1]
Shortly after Jeff Bezos – the richest man in the world – completed his first space flight, Representative Earl Blumenauer (D., Oreg.) Announced that he was working on a plan for a new tax targeting the space tourism.
The Securing Carbon Emissions Protection Act (SPACE) would create new excise taxes on commercial space flights with human passengers for purposes other than research.
“Space exploration is not a tax-free holiday for the rich. Just as normal Americans pay taxes when they buy airline tickets, billionaires who fly in space to produce nothing of scientific value should do the same, and so do some, ”Blumenauer said in a statement. “I am not opposed to this type of spatial innovation. However, things which are done solely for tourism or entertainment, and which have no scientific purpose, should in turn support the public good.
Blumenauer noted that he was concerned about the environmental impact of launching humans into space for tourism or entertainment.
Read more: Bezos’ space flight: billionaire’s space race could benefit ordinary people too
“While proponents of suborbital spaceflight indicate that transatlantic flights have a similar carbon footprint, these flights carry many more passengers and travel much further,” said a press release from Blumenauer’s office. “The result is that space launches represent about 60 times more emissions than transatlantic flights per passenger, enough to drive a car around the earth and more than twice the carbon budget recommended in the Paris Climate Agreement. . “
Although Blumenauer has yet to release details of the proposal, it said it is considering a per-passenger tax on the price of a commercial flight in space – similar to commercial flights. He would also like it to include a two-tier excise tax for each launch. The first level would apply to suborbital flights between 50 and 80 miles above the Earth’s surface. The second tier – flights exceeding 80 miles above the earth’s surface – would be subject to a “considerably higher excise tax”.
According to a press release, the bill would provide exemptions for NASA space flights for scientific purposes.
“In the case of flights where some passengers are working on behalf of NASA for scientific research purposes and others not, the launch excise tax will be the proportionate share of non-NASA researchers,” the statement said.
Jessica smith is chief political correspondent for Yahoo Finance, based in Washington, DC Follow her on Twitter at @ JessicaASmith8.
Read more:
Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, Youtube, and reddit
[ad_2]
Source link