[1] Arguments in favour of energy taxes have included the pursuit of macroeconomic objectives, e.g., fiscal deficit reduction in the 1990s, as well as environmental benefits, i.e., reduced pollution.
[2] A weakness of energy taxes is that they impose a burden (or cost) in the form of reduced economic output and employment.
The rejected proposal was watered down, as the Clinton administration tried to salvage their efforts by offering to exempt manufacturers and base the tax on the cost rather than the heat content of energy.
That marks the first time in the nation that a municipal government has imposed an energy tax directly upon its residents to combat global warming.
The tax appears on consumer's energy bills and is used to fund the city’s Office of Environmental Affairs that is in charge of programs designed to reduce Boulder's carbon footprint.