I was on NPR's Marketplace this evening with a commentary titled, "We need a carbon tax on gasoline." Here's the teaser:
Can you put a price on pollution? That's the question Congress takes up this week as they begin debate on the Climate Security Act of 2008. The legislation would enact a cap-and-trade system, whereby large polluters would buy and sell emission permits.
Commentator and economist Andrew Samwick has taken a look at his carbon output and his family's. He says if we're serious about cleaning up our act, we should consider a straight tax on carbon.
In a nutshell, while it is true that the largest part of our emissions come from automobiles, plenty still come from heating our homes and traveling by air. The more emission reduction we can get at the thermostat and in the air, the less we need to squeeze out of automobiles.
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Andrew, Good point. Just a
Andrew,
Good point. Just a note: There are more externalities to oil/gas consumption than just environmental. I have to think that a significant portion of our Defense budget could would not be necessary if we didn't need to secure the supply of oil to us and our allies. And of course, that just refers to dollars; incremental loss of life among our troops and others (to protect the oil supply) is obviously also an externality (not to put it in such cold-sounding terms).
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