Carbon Tax

     Exxon Mobil CEO (and Donald Trump’s Secretary of State) Rex Tillerson advocated a carbon tax in 2009.
     He cites several advanatages over regulations and cap & trade.

     This video by Dan Miller also makes the case for a revenue-neutral carbon tax.
     It also explores the psychological barriers against taking action to slow and stop climate change.  Psychologically, human react to threats with (1) clear visibility, (2) historical precedent, (3) immediateness, (4) direct personal impacts, (5) simple causality, and (6) causation by clear enemy.  In contrast, the climate change threat is (1) mostly invisible, (2) unprecedented, (3) drawn out over decades, (4) impact more our children and greandchildren, (5) compex in causes, and (6) caused by all of us.
     He says denial of climate change is all too easy.  We think it is only a distant environmental problem, one that’s impolite to discuss.  We wait for someone else to act.  We prefer rassuring lies to the inconvenient truth.

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     In 2010, India enacted a carbon tax of 50 Rupees per metric ton on coal mined and imported.  That translated to 80¢ per ton, or $2.97 per ton of CO2.  India's carbon tax is a good bit lower than British Columbia's, which started at $10 per tonne of CO2 in 2008 and rose gradually to $30 in 2012.  Canadian CO2 offsets are selling for $20-45 per tonne.  India's carbon tax is also far below Australia's short-lived carbon tax of $23 per tonne of CO2, but similar to Japan's carbon tax of ¥289 (US $2.88) per tonne of carbon ($9.58/ton of CO2).  South Africa plans a carbon tax of R120 ($13) per tonne of CO2.  In  2014, Mexico enacted a carbon tax ($3 / tonne of CO2), while Chile’s $5 / tonne of CO2 tax was enacted in September.

     Compared to prices in cap-and-trade markets, India's carbon tax is a little higher than American RGGI's price ($1.86-4.00, see above), but a bit less than recent European Union's ETS prices ($4-7, also above).  India's price is far below EU CO2 prices for 2008-11 ($10-35, above) and recent California CO2 prices ($10.09 per ton in November 2012 and $12.22 in August 2013).  India's carbon tax is also much lower than the initial 130 RMB price ($21.37) per tonne of CO2 in China's Shenzhen market.  Norway’s carbon tax (since 1992), now $72 / ton ($20 / ton of CO2), applies to offshore oil and gas.  Sweden’s is about twice that, but exceptions (e.g., electricity sector) and exemptions in both countries are the rule.

 Carbon Prices: US $ / Tonne of CO2

     Some cap & trade prices are in the top group.  They've fluctuated a lot.
   China's / ton CO2 prices began at US$4.90 in Shanghai, $8.21 in Beijing, $10 in Guangdong, and $4.61 in Tianjin.  Shenzhen prices fell to $12 in November.  RGGI's price rose to $4 in the March 2014 auction.

   Carbon taxes are in the bottom group.  Australia, under Tony Abbott, repealed its carbon tax in July 2014.  What some call a cap & trade system may replace it.

Carbon Pricing, if Missing the 100% Dividend, Will Boost Inequality 1121

White House-Backed Carbon Tax in Sight for Biden’s Climate Bill 1121

Democrats Weigh Carbon Tax after Manchin Rejects Key Climate Provision 1021

Austria Announces Carbon Tax, Offset by Reduction in Other Taxes 1021

Methane Crackdown Could Threaten U.S. Driller Profits, Citi Says 0921 - $1,680 / ton of CH4 proposal in Congress

Democrats Consider Adding Carbon Tax to Budget Bill 0921

Carbon Tax Is Key to Address Climate, Dividend Gets Congress to Support It 0921

Industry Group Backs Global Carbon Price for Large Ships 0921

Former Republican FERC Chairman Joins Group Promoting Carbon Tax 0821 - from Mitch McConnell’s(KY) staff

Democrats Want to Tax Big Polluters, but Is It Enough? 0821

How the EU's Carbon Border Tax Will Work 0821

Israel to Impose Carbon Tax, Starting with Fossil Fuels 0821

Democrats Propose a Border Tax Based on Nations’ Greenhouse Gas Emissions 0721

2 Cheers for Carbon Tariffs 0721

The E.U. Is Getting Serious about Climate.  Can the U.S. Follow Suit? 0721 - E.U. plans to raise the price to at least $71 per ton of CO2.

Nuts, Bolts & Pitfalls of Carbon Pricing - Equity-Based Primer on Paying to Pollute 0721 for NAACP - “Carbon pricing and trading systems are not very effective or equitable measures for curbing carbon emissions….  International shell games….  the worst environmental offenders co-opt the language of environmental advocates, in order to protect their bottom line, neutralize climate legislation, and preserve the status quo."

Austria Debates Carbon Tax to Ease Climate Anxiety 0721

Pacific Islands Make Lonely Case for Carbon Price on Shipping 0621

Climate Conundrum - Tax on Emissions Is Pragmatic but Unpopular 0621

Swiss Narrowly Reject Tax Hike to Fight Climate Change 0621

Climate Obstacles Facing Biden at the G-7 - 0621

Biden Should Impose a Carbon Fee Immediately 0621

Citizens’ Climate Lobby Testimony to Senate Finance Committee 0421

US Oil and Gas Industry Says It Will Support Carbon Pricing 0321

Canada Supreme Court Rules Federal Carbon Tax Is Constitutional 0321

Carbon Tax Sidelined in Biden’s Push on Climate, Taxes 0321

Carbon Tax Is Less Costly than Other Ways to Cut Electricity CO2 Emissions 0321

American Petroleum Institute Expected to Endorse Carbon Pricing 0321 - take 1

Top Oil and Gas Lobbying Group Close to Backing a Carbon Tax 0321 - take 2

National Academies Endorse Carbon Pricing 0321

Climate Game Changers - International Cooperation 0221 - In the game, the referee determines the lowest pledge from all players, then requires each player to pay exactly that amount – the amount of the lowest pledge.  This makes the game impossible to lose.

Climate Scientist Jim Hansen Tells UK’s Boris Johnson to Tax Carbon 0221

Our Approach to Climate Change - the Chamber of Commerce’s Position 0121

How to Better Tackle Climate Change - John Kerry 1120

Carbon Pricing & The Energy Transition 1120

FERC Takes ‘Landmark Action' on Carbon Pricing 1020

Both Parties Used to Love the Carbon Tax.  So Why Are They Giving Up on It? 0920

Business Roundtable Endorses Market-Based Climate Policy 0920 - a "market-based mechanism”, includes cap & trade

Wall Street Watchdog Calls for Carbon Pricing, Better Prep for Climate Change 0920

Behavioral Contagion Could Spread the Benefits of a Carbon Tax 0820

A Simpler, More Useful Way to Tax Carbon 0820 - Set price by politics, redo every few years.  Social Cost of Carbon is too difficult, too contentious, too uncertain.

Carbon Tax Border Adjustments - Good Politics, Bad for Consumers? 0720

Denmark to Introduce Green Taxes on Carbon Emissions 0620

New England Power Generators Pushing for a Carbon Tax 0620

The Climate Club - How to Fix a Failing Global Effort 0420 - by William Nordhaus, Nobel Prize winner in Economics for his work on climate change economics

The Fastest Way to Cut CO2 Emissions Is Fee and Dividend, Top Leaders Say 0220

The Winning Conservative Climate Solution 0120 - carbon fee & dividend

Carbon Fee & Dividend - a Socially and Environmentally Just Way to Fight Climate Change 0920

by Jim Hansen.  Dividend makes lower income households come out ahead.

2015-2019 Articles

Why Fee and Dividend Cuts Emissions Faster than Other Carbon Pricing Policies 1119 - by Jim Hansen & Dan Miller

How to Cut U.S. Carbon Pollution by Nearly 40% in 10 Years 1119   Carbon Fee & Dividend, starting at $15 / tonne of CO2 ($55 / tonne of carbon), rising $10 / tonne CO2 per year.  Proceeds are returned to each adult with a social security number, with half share to 1st 2 children in a household.  Collected at wellhead, mine mouth or port of entry.  Rebate (to US companies) or tariff (on imports) where other country’s tax is not the same rate.

World Needs a Massive Carbon Tax in Just 10 Years, IMF Says 1019

Climate Town Hall - Several Democratic Candidates Embrace a Carbon Tax 0919

Florida GOP Rep Seeks Carbon Tax to Reduce Pollution 0719

Watch Out, Big Oil.  Jay Inslee Proposes a Greenhouse Gas Fee 0619

Alberta Makes It Official - Bill Passed and Proclaimed to Kill Carbon Tax 0619

Environment Minister McKenna Blasts Provincial Tories for Scrapping Carbon Tax 0519

South African Carbon Tax Finally Becomes Law 0519

CEOs of Major Companies Call on U.S. Congress to Set a Price on Carbon 0519

Top GOP Pollster Finds Overwhelming Support for Carbon Tax by Millennial Republicans 0519

Corporate America Is Terrified of the Green New Deal 0519

U.S. House Tax Panel Mulls Carbon Fee at 1st Climate Hearing in 12 Years 0519

U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending 0519

Why Some Climate Activists Are Cooling on a Carbon Tax 0519

Democrats Should Embrace a Carbon Tax 0519

Microsoft Joins Climate Leadership Council 0519

Canada’s Federal Carbon Tax Starts in 4 Provinces 0319

Climate Change Politics May Defy Even the Most Rational Arguments 0319 - Canada

Trump's Top Economic Adviser Still Supports Carbon Tax 0319

On the World Stage, Canadian Oil Majors Promote a Carbon Tax 0319

How Carbon Tax Plans Compare and Why Oil Giants Support One of Them 0319

Want a Green New Deal?  Here’s a Better One. - Washington Post Editorial 0219

South African Parliament Approves Long-Delayed Carbon Tax Bill 0219

How to Win Public Support for a Global Carbon Tax 0119 - results of 5-nation survey

The Top US Economists – Fed Chairs, Nobel Winners, etc. - Call for Carbon Tax 0119

Ex-GOP Rep. Ryan Costello Joins Group Pushing Carbon Tax 0119

Bipartisan Bill Taxes CO2 and Gives the Money Back to You 1118 - 5 sponsors in the US House.  Up to 10 (3 GOP) by the time Senators Flake and Coons introduce an almost identical bill in the Senate in December.

Ballot Measures Aimed at Climate Change, Fossil Fuels Fall Short 1118

Big Oil Outspends Billionaires in Washington State Carbon Tax Fight 1018

Best Way to Fight Climate Change?  Put an Honest Price on Carbon 1018 - New York Times editorial

Ottawa to Return 90% of Carbon Tax Money to Canadians Who Pay It 1018

Taxing Carbon May Sound like a Good Idea, but Does It Work? 1018

In an Era of Climate Urgency, We Need a Carbon Tax 1018 - Boston Globe editorial

Climate Change Is Getting So Real, Investors Are Converting to a Carbon Price 1018

ExxonMobil Gives $1 Million to Promote a Carbon Tax-and-Dividend Plan 1018

Charge €30 a Tonne for CO2 to Avoid Catastrophic 4°C Warming 1018

Yellen Touts Carbon Tax as ‘Textbook Solution’ to Climate Change 0918

Oil Giant BP Met with Greens for 3 Years on Climate Policy 0918

Carbon Pricing - Correcting Climate Change's Market Failure 0818 - lengthy piece, with expected emission cuts as a result

GOP Lawmaker Proposes Carbon Tax 0718

A Carbon Tax That Could Put Money in Your Pocket 0718 - Chicago Tribune editorial

Declare Energy Independence with Carbon Dividends 0718 - Citizens Climate Lobby

Ontario PM Ford Scraps Carbon Tax Plan, Sets Up Climate Fight with Trudeau 0718

Washington Voters Likely to Take Up Carbon Fee Initiative 0718

Janet Yellen Calls for US Carbon Tax to Curb Climate Change 0618

Another GOP Group Wants to Tax Carbon.  Does It Matter? 0618

Here’s How to Break the Impasse on Climate 0618

Here's How One Group Pitches a Carbon Tax to the GOP 0618

Massachusetts Senate Votes to Put a Price on Carbon, with National Grid Support 0618 - It goes to the House now.  It punts choice of tax or cap & trade to Governor.  Goal is -40% (1990 base) by 2030 and -80% by 2050.  Carbon price starts for transport, business, and residential in consecutive years.  State’s largest utility strongly supports it, plans electrification of transport and home heating (heat pumps), continued decarbonization of electricity, etc.

New York Grid Operator Floats Carbon Pricing Proposal 0518

Utah’s Climate Resolution & Bipartisan Carbon Pricing Bill 0318

Thank Colleges for Imminent Carbon Taxes 0318

Trump's Trade War Could Prompt Future Tariffs on U.S. CO2 - 0318

Associated Industries of Massachusetts Supports Carbon Pricing 0318

College Republicans Are Here to Fix Climate Change! 0218

Washington Carbon Tax Clears Hurdle, Heads for State Senate Vote 0218

Singapore to Impose Carbon Tax from 2019 - 0218

Carbon Pricing Could Save Millions of Hectares of Tropical Forest 0218

Vermont Lawmakers Forge Ahead with Carbon Tax Plan 0218

9 States Buck Trump Administration, Move toward Price on Carbon Pollution 0118

Can Gov. Inslee Deliver America's 1st Carbon Tax? 0118

In Texas, Conservatives Tout Carbon Tax, but Draw Critics on Both Left and Right 1217

China's Top Climate Official Rules Out Carbon Futures, Tax 1117

Americans Want a Tax on Carbon Pollution, but How to Get One? 1017 - How to use tax proceeds? Favorites are
support solar & wind; infrastructure; help displaced coal miners; reduce debt.  #5 is cut other taxes.  CCL discussion

British Columbia Will Increase Its Carbon Tax 0917

Americans May Finally Be Ready to Look at a Carbon Tax 0917

Proper Carbon Tax Could Wipe Billions from Polluters' Profits 0917

Some Democrats See Tax Overhaul as a Path to Taxing Carbon 0817

Exxon Mobil Lends Its Support to a Carbon Tax Proposal 0617

Sky-High Carbon Tax Needed to Avoid Climate Catastrophe, Say Expertsm 0517

Massachusetts Carbon Fee Would Save $2.9 Billion in Health Costs over 20 Years 0417

Use Carbon Tax to Help Fight Climate Change 0417 Chicago Sun-Times editorial

Guess Who’s for a Carbon Tax Now - Big Oil CEOs 0417

How Countries Cut Carbon by Putting a Price on It 0417

Vermont House Democrats Reintroduce Carbon Pollution Fee, with Fresh Messaging 0417

Will Washington State Be 1st in Taxing Greenhouse Gases? 0417

A Roadmap for Rapid Decarbonization 0317 - broad & detailed blueprint, mostly technological, by decade, of how to go carbon neutral (net-zero emissions) by 2050 and carbon-negative afterward.  Policy instruments - carbon tax, cap & trade, regulations are also mentioned.  Science journal

The Conservatives Who Are Switching Sides on Warming 0317

Carbon Tax Floated as Possible Replacement to Inslee's 'Clean Air Rule' 0317

China Floats Carbon Tax, in Split from EU’s Carbon Cap & Trade 0317

Singapore Carbon Tax Would Hit Refiners, Help Renewables 0217

Group of Prominent Republicans Has an Excellent Plan to Fight Climate Change - Washington Post editorial 0217

A Serious Republican Idea on Climate Change – USA Today editorial 0217

Republican Statesmen Propose Replacing Clean Power Plan with a Carbon Tax 0217 - commentary on prospects for passage of the proposal below.  Other authors include 25-year Wal-Mart chairman and a 3rd Treasury Secretary

A Conservative Answer to Climate Change 0217 - Sec’s of State & Treasury George Schultz and James Baker in Wall St Journal

A Conservative Case for Climate Action 0217 - Martin Feldstein, Greg Mankiw (2 Republican chairmen of Council of Economic Advisers), Ted Halstead in NY Times

Alberta's New Carbon Tax Is All about the 'Long Game', Says Deputy Premier 0117

Tillerson Led Exxon’s Shift on Climate Change; Some Say ‘It Was All P.R.’ 1216

Carbon Tax Could Boost Green Energy in Bangladesh 1216

Canada Will Impose Nationwide Carbon Price 0916

Americans Appear Willing to Pay for a Carbon Tax Policy 0916 - weighted average of $0 to $50+ per month

US Needs ‘Price on Pollution’ to Spur Clean Energy - National Academy 0916

There’s a Still Better Approach to CO2 Emissions - a Carbon Tax 0816 - Washington Post editorial

India Doubled Its Coal Tax to $6 a Ton.  Coal India Wants the Tax on Petro Coke Too. 0816

Elon Musk’s Libertarian Case for a Carbon Tax 0816

To Tax or Not to Tax—That Is the Question 0716

Why Exxon Mobil Is Now Lobbying for a Carbon Tax 0616

Why Won't Clinton Support a Carbon Tax?  Fear of Trump. 0616

House Backs Symbolic Measures to Oppose Oil Fee, Carbon Tax 0616

Supporters Laud 'Momentum' for Carbon Tax, despite House Vote 0616

Alberta Enacts Carbon Tax, in 1st Stage of Climate-Change Plan 0616

Say Yes to a Carbon Tax - Richmond VA Editorial 0416

Carbon Pricing Becomes a Cause for the World Bank and I.M.F. 0416

France to Set Unilateral Floor Price for Carbon Emissions 0416

Raise the Carbon Tax, B.C. Businesses Say 0316

A Climate Skeptic Calls for a Carbon Tax 0316 - Tax carbon, cut payroll tax, thus stimulate hiring.

Liberals Won't Rule Out a National Carbon Price, Catherine McKenna Says 0316

BP CEO Urges Global Carbon Price to Meet Paris Climate Change Goals 0216

Washington Lawmakers Consider Putting a Price on Carbon 0216

Tax High Carbon Food, Sugar for Climate and Health Gains 0216

UK-Wide £20 a Tonne Carbon Tax Would Have ‘Little Impact' on Consumers 0116

The Narrow Path to a Carbon Tax 1215 - US, revenue neutral, some corporate income tax reduction

Paris Climate Accord Is a Big, Big Deal (2.8¢/kWh Wind & 4.2 Solar) 1215

For Big Business Seeking CO2 Emissions Price, a Ray of Hope from Paris 1215

Obama Says Carbon Price Is Better than Regulations 1215  But Congress wouldn’t pass one during his terms.

Alberta Doubles Down on Renewable Energy, Plans Carbon Tax in 2017 - 1115 - CN$20 / Ton CO2 in 2017, $30 in 2018

US Carbon Tax Effects Analysis by Income Level - RFF 1115  - PDF, 25 pp.  Of ways to return (100%) of carbon tax to taxpayers, cutting corporate income tax is best for GNP, individual income tax cut worst.  But individual (equal) income tax rebates do best for low (& even middle) income, while cutting corporate taxes benefits only the rich, while harming poor.

These Could Be the 1st US States to Tax Carbon & Give Residents a Paycheck 1115

Massachusetts Mulls an Economy-Wide Price on Carbon 1015

Governments to Raise $22 Billion from Carbon Pricing in 2015 - 1015

Climate Change Deal Will Not Include Global Carbon Price 1015

ITF Calls for Global Rules for Ship Operators to Cut Emissions 1015

Oil CEOs Differ on Carbon Strategy, Highlighting Industry Divide 1015

The Key Role of Conservatives in Taxing Carbon 0915 - Greg Mankiw was economic adviser to Mitt Romney in 2012.

Concord Monitor in New Hampshire - It’s Time for a Tax on Carbon 0815

GOP Needs Alternative Climate Policy 0815

Coal Renaissance Means Switching to Plan B - Carbon Pricing and CO2 Removal 0715

Energy Taxes Are Misaligned with Environmental Impacts of Energy Use 0615 - Gasoline taxes loom large.

Alberta to Boost Carbon Price, Ahead of Climate Policy Revamp 0615

In Stunning Reversal, ‘Big Oil’ Asks for World Carbon Price 0615
     Shadow carbon prices ($/ton of CO2 equivalent) by big oil companies in 2013 included $40 at BP and Shell, $60-80 (in 2030 & 2040) at ExxonMobil, $34 at France’s Total, and $6-45 at ConocoPhillips.  I don’t know the numbers for Chevron, Italy's Eni, Norway’s Statoil, or Britain's BG Group.

Carbon Pricing Letter from Oil Giants 0615

Hillary Would Charge New Fees for Fossil Fuel Extraction 0615 - royalties increase?  or carbon tax?

Oil Industry Pushes for Carbon Tax in Alberta 0515

Former BP Boss, Tony Hayward, Calls for an End to Fossil Fuel Subsidies 0515

The Conservative Case for Taxing Carbon Pollution 0515

Yale to impose Carbon Tax on Itself, Led by the Man Who Helped Invent It 0415

US Support for Carbon Tax Reaches Almost 70% - 0415

Climate Group Launches Initiative for a Carbon Tax in Washington State 0415

Price on Carbon Is Key to Canada Tackling Global Warming, Say Researchers 0415

Doubled Top-Up Carbon Tax Will Trigger UK Coal Slowdown 0415

A Reagan Approach to Climate Change 0315

Low CO2 Emissions Tax Possible if Clean Technology Is Also Implemented 0215

Seize the Day - Tax Carbon, End Fossil Fuel Subsidies (Opinion) 0115

Australia’s Power Sector Emissions Jump as Carbon Tax Ends 0115

US Economists' Statement on Carbon Dividends

Jan. 16, 2019

Global climate change is a serious problem calling for immediate national action.  Guided by sound economic principles, we are united in the following policy recommendations.

I. A carbon tax offers the most cost-effective lever to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed that is necessary.  By correcting a well-known market failure, a carbon tax will send a powerful price signal that harnesses the invisible hand of the marketplace to steer economic actors towards a low-carbon future.

II. A carbon tax should increase every year until emissions reductions goals are met and be revenue neutral to avoid debates over the size of government.  A consistently rising carbon price will encourage technological innovation and large-scale infrastructure development.  It will also accelerate the diffusion of carbon-efficient goods and services.

III. A sufficiently robust and gradually rising carbon tax will replace the need for various carbon regulations that are less efficient.  Substituting a price signal for cumbersome regulations will promote economic growth and provide the regulatory certainty companies need for long-term investment in clean-energy alternatives.

IV. To prevent carbon leakage and to protect U.S. competitiveness, a border carbon adjustment system should be established.  This system would enhance the competitiveness of American firms that are more energy-efficient than their global competitors.  It would also create an incentive for other nations to adopt similar carbon pricing.

V. To maximize the fairness and political viability of a rising carbon tax, all the revenue should be returned directly to U.S. citizens through equal lump-sum rebates.  The majority of American families, including the most vulnerable, will benefit financially by receiving more in “carbon dividends” than they pay in increased energy prices.

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George Akerlof, Robert Aumann, Angus Deaton, Peter Diamond, Robert Engle, Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen, Oliver Hart, Bengt Holmström, Daniel Kahneman, Finn Kydland, Robert Lucas, Eric Maskin, Daniel McFadden, Robert Merton, Roger Myerson, Edmund Phelps, Alvin Roth, Thomas Sargent, Myron Scholes, Amartya Sen, William Sharpe, Robert Schiller, Christopher Sims, Robert Solow, Michael Spence and Richard Thaler are recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Paul Volcker is a former Federal Reserve chairman.

Martin Baily, Michael Boskin, Martin Feldstein, Jason Furman, Austan Goolsbee, Glenn Hubbard, Alan Krueger, Edward Lazear, N. Gregory Mankiw, Christina Romer, Harvey Rosen and Laura Tyson are former chairmen of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Janet Yellen have chaired both the Fed and the Council of Economic Advisers.

George Shultz and Lawrence Summers are former Treasury secretaries.

32 economists (4 Nobel Prize winners), US Cabinet Secretaries, Federal Reserve Bank Vice-Governors, etc.  Excerpt is below:
"We endorse these 4 principles for taxing carbon to fight climate change without undermining economic prosperity:
1.  Carbon emissions should be taxed across fossil fuels in proportion to carbon content, with the tax imposed “upstream” in the distribution chain.
2.  Carbon taxes should start low, so individuals and institutions have time to adjust, but then rise substantially and briskly, on a pre-set trajectory that imparts stable expectations to investors, consumers and governments.
3.  Some carbon tax revenue should be used to offset unfair burdens to lower-income households.
4.  Subsidies that reward extraction and use of carbon-intensive energy sources should be eliminated."


2014 Articles and earlier

Study of MA Carbon Tax & Rebate - MA DOER / Breslow 1214  - PDF, 156 pp

Australia Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fall to Record Low, Due to Carbon Tax 1214

When Will Vermonters Buy a Carbon Tax?  It's Complicated 1214

Carbon Tax Could Bolster Green Energy 1114

Global CO2 Pricing Scheme Surfaces Ahead of 2015 Climate Summit 1014

Carbon Tax & Nuclear Power - Hansen 1014 - PDF

Chile Becomes 1st South American Country to Tax Carbon 0914

Tax Carbon Emissions or Trade Them?  Economists Dig into the Problem 0914

How to Stop Tax Inversions With a Carbon Levy.  Seriously 0814

Australia Votes to Repeal Carbon Tax 0714

Australian Senate Delays Carbon Tax Repeal 0714

Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax Would Improve on EPA Regulations 0614

How to Sell a Carbon Tax - Bloomberg 0614

British Columbia''s Carbon Tax Works 0314

Voluntary Carbon Tax Witness 0314

CBO - Carbon Tax Chops $1 Trillion from Deficit 1113

Opinion - Taxing Tar Sands, Chasing Goliath - Hansen 1013

Abbott's Plans to Remove Australia's Carbon Price to Cost More than $6 Billion 0913

Conservatives Make the Argument for a Carbon Tax 0813

Sky Didn't Fall after British Columbia Began Carbon Tax, Cut Income Tax 0713

Australia to Scrap Carbon Tax, in Favor of Trading Scheme 0713

Economist Solution to Climate Change - Carbon Tax 0613

Australia Carbon Price Working 0513

US Carbon Price Backed by Independent Office 0513

Carbon Tax Economic Analysis, Exec Sum - NERA 0213 - PDF, for National Association of Manufactuers

House GOP Leaders Oppose Carbon Tax 1112

Carbon Tax Seen Viable with Exxon's Backing 1112

Carbon Tax for US Gets 2nd Look 1112

Australia Introduces Carbon Tax 0712

Australia Enacts Carbon Tax 1111

Australia to Tax Carbon Emitters 0711

Economic Analysis of US Carbon Fee & Dividend - REMI 0614 - PDF, 126 pp - sponsored by Citizens Climate Lobby.

     With a carbon tax (100% returned to taxpayers in equal amounts, & with a border adjustment), US CO2 emissions decline from 5.1 GT/year in 2015 to 2.6 GT/year in 2035.  The tax starts at $10 / metric ton of CO2 in 2016 and rises $10 / T annually thereafter, to 2035.
    The number of jobs increases ~1% by 2025, compared to the baseline of no carbon tax.  Only the West South Central states suffer.  Job gains are largest in Health Care; Finance & Insurance; Retail; and Real Estate.  Only Mining and Manufacturing (oil & chemicals) suffer.  GNP rises ~0.25%.
     The tax saves 10,000 lives a year (mostly from air pollution) by 2021 and 14,000 / year by 2031.
     Annual electric energy after 25 years is 6% (250 TWh) less than in the base case.  Coal (1,500 now) gets phased out, mostly by 2025.  Wind energy use grows 750, nuclear 700, solar 200, and geothermal 100, but gas falls 500.

A Citizens Climate Lobby summary video, one summary of the case for a carbon tax.
CCL sponsored the 2014 REMI US carbon tax study, summarized above, plus the July 2013 Massachusetts carbon tax study, summarized below.  CCL has more than 200 chapters, coverring more than 380 Congressional districts in 48 states.  CCL works to get a carbon tax (fee) enacted, with 100% of the revenues returned directly to households.

Tax/ton of Carbon equates to $4, $8, and $12 / ton of CO2

     The benefit of a carbon tax is highest for a $45/ton tax: ~ $70 per year per capita.  In all cases considered, a higher carbon tax yields greater economic benefits to its citizens.  Higher tax rates could yield even higher benefits per person.  A carbon tax would add 1 job, net, for every 300 jobs now in the state.

Details: Massachusetts Jobs Change by Industry, for $30 / Ton CO2 Tax

Change in MA Consumer Price Index, due to Carbon Tax

Changed Massachusetts MA CO2 Emissions, from Carbon Tax

The % emission effects of the 3 carbon tax rates are modest.

Price Changes for Carbon-Based Fuels, in Massachusetts, due to a Carbon Tax

Section Map: Government & Carbon Pricing