Carbon Tax on the Table

As the US nears the “fiscal cliff,” the idea of a revenue-neutral carbon “tax swap,” which would see revenue from a carbon tax used to reduce other taxes, while driving innovation in energy efficiency and alternative energy, has been proposed by a number of policymakers and academics. A new report from the Institute for Energy Research argues against the carbon “tax swap,” pointing to technical and pragmatic flaws, such as the probability of emissions “leaking” to other, less regulated regions, like China. A report from MIT, however, found that a carbon tax would have multiple benefits, such as reducing emissions,… [more]