Number: 2000-10
WHEREAS, many species of wildlife are threatened by loss of habitat, degradation of water supplies, and the effects of climate change resulting from human activities; and
WHEREAS, the true costs imposed by many activities that cause pollution, loss of wildlife habitat, or contribute to climate change or the depletion of natural resources are not reflected in their market prices; and
WHEREAS, government policies should not encourage pollution, destruction or contamination of wildlife habitat, or the degradation or unsustainable depletion of non-renewable natural resources; and
WHEREAS, too often taxation codes directly or indirectly provide incentives for activities that harm public health and the environment by polluting air and water, encouraging sprawl, or harmfully depleting natural resources; and
WHEREAS, tax deductions, credits and other tax incentives for activities which degrade the environment result in lost government revenue and in billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidy of these environmentally-harmful activities; and
WHEREAS, the federal and state governments raise relatively little revenue from taxes or fees assessed on pollution of the land, water, and air or on the extraction or use of natural resources; and
WHEREAS, increasing taxes or fees on environmentally-harmful activities would generate revenues that could be dedicated to conservation purposes, as is currently the case with offshore oil leasing fees; and
WHEREAS, the energy theme for Earth Day 2000 provides an opening for support of positive incentives to increase energy efficiency and the use of clean renewable resources; and
WHEREAS, the federal government and several states are considering using the approach known as Environmental Tax Shifting in order to conserve natural resources, wildlife, and the quality of the environment by discouraging environmentally harmful activities and encouraging sustainable and productive practices;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 16-18, 2000, in Seattle, Washington, supports the concept of Environmental Tax Shifting as a potentially useful tool to discourage activities that contribute to climate change, degradation of wildlife habitat, and pollution of the land, water, and air; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges federal and state governments to examine their respective tax codes and identify opportunities for taxes and fees on activities that cause pollution, the consumption of non-renewable resources, or that threaten or diminish habitat for wildlife; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges federal and state governments to eliminate or modify tax deductions, credits and other forms of preferential tax treatment of activities which harm public health and the environment; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges federal and state governments to strongly consider offering carefully targeted tax benefits, in the form of credits or deductions, to encourage land and water conservation, pollution prevention, energy efficiency, and clean, renewable energy resources.