The Clean Air Act and our tax system could get a welcomed boost with a Carbon Tax on fossil fuel producers and users. It's under discussion on NPR and The New Yorker. I wish the idea were discussed in Congress, too! I'm throwing in my clean air hat to say, Yes! to a carbon tax because it makes clean air, climate change, fiscal, clean energy, and better health sense.
A modest carbon tax would take care of half the current deficit.
Paying For It by Elizabeth Kolbert at The New Yorker is about potential benefits of Carbon Tax.
On NPR's "To The Point" today a great discussion underway Is The Carbon Tax An Idea Whose Time Has Come? Guests discuss benefits and (drawbacks) of a carbon tax on the fiscal cliff and our environment. I heard conservatives acknowledge the health care costs (dollars and lives) of continuing with unabated coal. Pleasant surprise to hear from conservative think tanks considering clean air benefits to a carbon tax.
From KCRW's web site on carbon tax topic:
Environmentalists have long championed a carbon tax, imposed not just on gasoline, but on all fossil fuels, from coal used to generate electricity to diesel fuel used to power heavy equipment, as a way to address climate change. Now it’s winning the support of conservative think-tanks and even some oil companies, as a way to address the budget deficit. Is the tax a smart way to avert both global warming and the fiscal cliff? If so, then why isn't the Obama White House proposing it, and why is Congress so reluctant to consider it? Has hurricane Sandy changed any minds?
Guests:
- Elizabeth Kolbert: New Yorker, @NewYorker
- Bob Inglis: Energy and Enterprise Initiative
- Marlo Lewis: Competitive Enterprise Institute, @ceidotorg
- Dan Lashof: Natural Resources Defense Council, @Dlashof
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