In principle, I'm all for a carbon tax. In terms of the specific rate that'll be charged, I simply hope the government did their homework in terms of economic forecasting. Here's why I like the idea... any jurisdiction that claims it's serious about reducing CO2 emissions has to put some kind of price on carbon. At the moment the burning of fossil fuels and it's impact on the environment is not adequately accounted for in the market--it's a negative externality. If I were to get caught by police littering on the street or spilling fuel in waterways, I would probably get fined for it. Yet, we pollute the air without any of those costs being internalized. Given current price signals, people have zero incentive to conserve and use more energy efficient technology when it's simply much cheaper to stick with current behavior.
__________________
FiftyBelow
|