10.04.2015 - Don’t bet the planet on carbon taxes
Last month, the Obama administration pledged that, by 2025, the U.S. will cut greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels — the same commitment it made in its deal with China last fall. The pledge is both heartening because it keeps the international negotiating process moving, and depressing because, even if we achieve it, it is (according to most scientists) far too little to avert climate catastrophe. So the question remains: is there any imaginable way that U.S. political action could go further? Or are we betting the planet on a potpourri of rules and regulations may not even be fully implemented? Many economists argue that a tax on carbon is the ultimate climate solution. In this view, the failure of markets to charge appropriate prices for carbon causes everyone to burn too much of it. Let government add a tax — ideally a steadily rising one — and the problem is solved...............................................Full Article: Source
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