In the 1970s scientists working for the oil companies privately confirmed to their employers that their research showed continued fossil-fuel burning would dangerously raise global temperatures. The oil companies kept the information tightly under wraps for decades.
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We now know that the strongest evidence for climate change was actually proposed not by socialists, or even by the new breed of climate scientist, but by research conducted by the fossil fuel industries themselves. Industry executives accepted the evidence presented to them as scientifically sound decades ago, and they then worked night and day to keep the public ignorant of their findings.
The Global Climate Coalition was formed in 1989 — secretly backed by Exxon, Texaco, and BP — and served as a powerful “independent” lobby group. When its own technical advisers concluded in 1995 that the science of global warming could not be denied, the coalition aggressively suppressed the report.
Another group, Informed Citizens for the Environment, set up by coal and utility companies, used advertising blitzes targeted at economically precarious groups to persuade them climate action would be harmful to their household finances.
A leaked 1998 internal memo from the American Petroleum Institute mapped out another multi-million dollar strategy, funding independent-seeming scientists to inject skepticism into mainstream debate in the media.
It seems the oil and gas crowd were & are quite willing to destroy the earth in pursuit of $. Many oil & gas CEOs became quite wealthy as a result of their lies.
No punishment or penalty has been incurred due to their behavior.
Just like the financial CEOs involved in the real estate bubble that exploded in 2008; they skated.
And their wealth continues to accumulate due to the current tax laws that do not tax unrealized capital gains.
The first Trillionaire has appeared. Or should we call him a “taxillionaires.” If it weren’t for laws that permit the wealthy to endlessly defer paying taxes by keeping their gains unrealized, there would be no trillionaires — and many fewer billionaires.
the most important thing about Musk’s wealth isn’t whether it stays above the 13-figure threshold — it’s that 94 percent of it comes from not having to pay taxes on unrealized gains.
According to Musk’s own account, when he sold his stake in Paypal in 2002, he netted $180 million, invested it all in SpaceX and Tesla, and borrowed to pay his living expenses. To get from $180 million to a trillion today implies annual returns of over 40 percent (returns that would be considered impossible for ordinary investors).
Allowing these returns to compound untaxed supercharges growth.
Suppose he were subject to the same taxes on his annual wealth increase that most higher-earning Americans pay on what they make and had to sell some Tesla and SpaceX shares to pay those taxes.
We crunched the numbers based on the latest figures, and found he’d be worth around $47 billion today — rich enough to afford the most lavish lifestyle imaginable, but not a trillionaire, and not richer than the G.D.P. of most countries.
It’s the same story for Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and other multibillionaires.
The vast bulk of their fortunes came from not paying taxes on their wealth as it grew. Without endless tax deferrals, they would have only a tiny fraction of what they own today (although that tiny fraction would still be a huge amount of money). Yet as things stand today, nothing stops them from wielding the power and influence their wealth buys to benefit themselves.
I guess my envy is showing along with Jonathan Cook’s, Bob Lord’s & Stephen Land’s.
Or is there something rotten in the State of the United States?
No wonder people are depressed or angry because they feel the deck is stacked against their path to prosperity. And believe that the rules have changed; removing economic rules for influence and corruption as a basis of advancement.
