We recently learned that Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) suggested amending a bill that approves the building of the Keystone pipeline and abolishes the corn ethanol mandate. This is a very unwise proposal. If Congress needs a face-saving way to approve the Keystone pipeline, it should be done in a way that … Continue reading »
carbon tax
Is 2015 the year for a carbon tax?
Last year, during the holiday season the price of gasoline was at $3.57/gallon, which restricted the financial choices of everyday Americans. Actually from 2005 we consumers gradually adjusted to higher prices of oil. The adjustment wasn’t easy. Many lower-income individuals who purchased new homes far from work realized that they could not pay their mortgages, … Continue reading »
What’s a university to do about climate change?
About a year ago, I blogged about the fossil-fuel divestment movement at universities, arguing that it is unlikely to have any effect, and that even if it did it would be to raise fuel prices, which we could do more directly with a carbon tax. I said that those of us at the University of … Continue reading »
Doha schmoha
On Saturday (Dec. 8) another wildly unsuccessful round of climate negotiations, in Doha, Qatar, concluded with applying a band aid to solve the rapidly accelerating climate problem. The 1997 Kyoto accord was extended to 2020. If you think this is a good thing, you are severely mistaken. China, the US and the other usual suspects … Continue reading »
Using a carbon tax to decrease the deficit
A carbon tax would provide an incentive to reduce the use of fossil fuels, fostering the growth of clean energy. But it would have another benefit as well: providing revenue to help cut the deficit. Much the same effect could be produced by auctioning allowances within a cap-and-trade system. According to Resources for the Future, … Continue reading »
Carbon pricing: How would it affect the poor?
Putting a price on carbon – whether through a trading system, a carbon tax, or otherwise – will increase energy costs. These increases are regressive because the poor spend a larger portion of their budgets on gasoline, heating and power. But determining the ultimate distributive impacts of pricing carbon is not straightforward. Pricing carbon has … Continue reading »