The Problem With Billionaires Fighting Global Warming? Billionaires - Guardian
In a flashy press conference this week, Michael Bloomberg announced that hes spending $500m to help the United States move closer to a carbon-neutral future. We should be very grateful that Bloomberg isnt running for president: the money hes pouring into Beyond Carbon will fund some great and necessary work, like his injection into the Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal campaign several years back. But it would be much better for the planet if billionaires like him didnt exist at all.
As Axios recently reported, the 1% and the worlds biggest companies have more money than they know what to do with, and theyre either hoarding it or pouring it into things like stock buybacks to make the wealthy even wealthier. Hedge funds and private equity funds are snapping up privatized public goods like water and electricity, while rich households are spending their extra cash on asset managers wholl help them place bets on the next Theranos. Corporate profits have grown as wages have stagnated, all while some of the most useless and destructive parts of our economy balloon.
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For every Michael Bloomberg there are dozens of Koch Brothers and Rebekah Mercers, whove poured tens of millions of dollars into spreading climate denial and blocking de-carbonization efforts at the local, state and national level. None of them should have as much money as they do. The climate crisis isnt going to be solved with the benevolence of a couple of billionaires, and their outsized control over our politics and economy stands in contradiction to our hopes for a liveable future. With rightwing populism on the rise around the world, having elites like Bloomberg as the public face of the climate fight is also risky politics. We dont need their money to fund the Green New Deal the US has more than enough for that but we should take it anyway, with a far more progressive tax system than the one weve got.
If that sounds radical, its worth remembering that the top marginal tax rate during the time hailed as capitalisms Golden Age floated somewhere north of 90% in the US. After itd already fallen, Ronald Reagans administration collapsed it to 50% when he took office, and it would dip to just 28% by the time he left. The many billions that have been lost as a result are resources that have been captured out of democratic control, emboldening a handful of oligarchs to run roughshod over people and planet alike.
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/10/billionaires-climate-change-michael-bloomberg