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carbon tax

Bold But Realistic Climate Actions

Here’s what a new President could actually do.

What options are available to a new President taking office in 2021? Let’s assume a favorable scenario for climate action in which Dems take unified control of the government (White House, Senate, House) in 2021. What then? The first theme to keep in mind is that the Democrats will still be subject to some significant …

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Pricing Carbon: What Does It Actually Accomplish?

Pricing carbon may not work the way economists thought.

In theory, pricing carbon should incentivize emissions reductions. In reality, it is unclear to what extent that takes place unless the carbon price is very high. This is not to say that pricing carbon is useless, but the main benefits may take different forms. Basically, there are two ways of putting a price on carbon. …

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What Do Dems Think about Climate Policy?

The candidates are united on some issues, but divided or equivocal on others.

Yesterday, the Washington Post published a survey of the Democratic candidates’ positions on climate change. The differences between candidates probably don’t have a lot of immediate policy relevance, given the political and legal constraints on what a new president could accomplish. But they are very revealing about the direction of the Democratic Party today. The …

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Happy Tax Day!

It’s the perfect time to talk about a carbon tax.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that taxes are the prices we pay for a civilized society. A carbon tax, if we ever get one, might turn out to be the price we pay for a sustainable planet. I’m not wedded to it as a tool for cutting carbon, and I don’t think it would …

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On the present improbability and future necessity of carbon pricing

Mapping a politically feasible roadmap towards a future, rigorous carbon pricing system

Carbon pricing is in the news right now—and not in a good way. Whether it is French protests over gas taxes, political challenges to Canada’s new federal carbon price system, voter rejection of a carbon price in Washington state, or (yet another) Australian government falling because of disputes over carbon pricing, the political challenges of …

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On magical, mythical, market unicorn fairies

Or how we can get effective climate policy without government intervention

I don’t usually respond to op-ed columns, but the column by Bret Stephens in the New York Times on climate policy yesterday is so …. foolish that I think it needs a response. And more to the point, the foolishness in the column can help illuminate some of the major problems that have developed as …

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On the future of climate policy

A response to William Nordhaus’s comments about how essential carbon taxes are to addressing climate change

William Nordhaus recently (and deservedly) won the Nobel Prize for Economics for his work on the economic implications of climate change and policies to respond to climate change. In the press coverage after the award, some comments were attributed to Nordhaus that I think are important to consider in more depth – in part because …

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Let’s Make A Deal

What Should Environmentalists Give Up – and Demand – For A Carbon Tax?

A nice editorial from the Los Angeles Times about the proposed carbon tax being offered by some Republicans under the front group Americans for Carbon Dividends, most notably former Secretaries of State James Baker and George Shultz. Exxon-Mobil is even throwing $1 million into the effort — chump change for such a corporate behemoth. The Times …

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The Carbon Tax — More Attractive Than Ever

Due to the latest tax bill, a carbon tax look like a great strategy when the Dems take power again.

Sooner or later, the Democrats will take control of Congress and the White House, just like the Republicans right now. That’s not a political prediction so much as a recognition that the wheel is bound to turn around at some point. At that point, they should give very serious consideration to the possibility of a …

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Climate Policy Canadian-Style

Canada is setting a great example to its southern neighbor.

Despite our geographic proximity and close economic ties, Canada doesn’t get a lot of press attention in the U.S. But unknown to many, Canada has been taking aggressive steps forward in climate policy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected Trump’s decision in no uncertain terms: We are deeply disappointed that the United States federal government has …

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carbon tax

Here’s what a new President could actually do.

Pricing carbon may not work the way economists thought.

The candidates are united on some issues, but divided or equivocal on others.

It’s the perfect time to talk about a carbon tax.

Mapping a politically feasible roadmap towards a future, rigorous carbon pricing system

Or how we can get effective climate policy without government intervention

A response to William Nordhaus’s comments about how essential carbon taxes are to addressing climate change

What Should Environmentalists Give Up – and Demand – For A Carbon Tax?

Due to the latest tax bill, a carbon tax look like a great strategy when the Dems take power again.

Canada is setting a great example to its southern neighbor.

TRENDING

The Trump administration moves ahead with plans to roll back Obama-era fuel economy standards.

New Policy Allows Companies to Use Covid-19 As an Excuse to Pollute

EPA May Roll Back Car Standards Next Week

The two have some informative parallels, although some observers draw the wrong conclusions

For statutory, practical, and constitutional reasons, states are on the front line.

COVID-19 spread shows governance matters more than density

Federal Government’s Constitutional Challenge to California’s Linked GHG Reduction Plan Fails

Everyone is at risk, but some more than others.

There’s a lot we don’t know at this point. How should we deal with that?

Considering long-term climate needs in near-term crisis responses

For statutory, practical, and constitutional reasons, states are on the front line.

EPA May Roll Back Car Standards Next Week

The President does have considerable power, but there are serious limitations.

Q: From an economic perspective, what’s it worth spending to curb the pandemic? A: A lot.

What do we actually know at this point about the dangers?

Everyone is at risk, but some more than others.

Federal Government’s Constitutional Challenge to California’s Linked GHG Reduction Plan Fails

Trump Administration proposes drastic revisions to regulations that implement bedrock environmental law

COVID-19 spread shows governance matters more than density

There’s a common theme: “nothing to worry about, folks.”