Did you ever look at sci-fi movies where scholars could make trips to the Moon or Mars during their vacations? Sure, we were all watching and saying, “oh, those are just movies, it will never become possible!”, but according to Yahoo! Finance, humanity might soon start making huge steps towards such a goal.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D., Oreg.) announced that he’s working on a plan involving a new tax for space tourism. Therefore, the Securing Protections Against Carbon Emissions (SPACE) Tax Act would implement new excise taxes on commercial space flights that will involve humans who aren’t aiming at scientific research – in other words, what we understand as “regular people” will have access for those space flights.
Blumenauer declared, as quoted by Yahoo! Finance:
Space exploration isn’t a tax-free holiday for the wealthy. Just as normal Americans pay taxes when they buy airline tickets, billionaires who fly into space to produce nothing of scientific value should do the same, and then some,
I’m not opposed to this type of space innovation. However, things that are done purely for tourism or entertainment, and that don’t have a scientific purpose, should in turn support the public good.
But it may be much more difficult than it sounds, and let’s not forget that the Universe doesn’t care too much about our desires. Blumenauer also said that he’s worried about what environmental impact the launching of humans into space for such purposes can have.
No details of the proposal had been revealed by Blumenauer yet, but he announced that he’s considering a per-passenger tax on a commercial space flight’s price, which would be similar to commercial flights.
What would be the first planet you want to visit? Feel free to tell us in the comment section!
