Here\u2019s a riddle. How many economists does it take to sound the alarm on the need for immediate action to address global climate change? \u00a0If you guessed 3,558, you\u2019d be on the money. That\u2019s the total number of American economists, plus four former chairs of the Federal Reserve, plus twenty-seven Nobel Laureates, plus fifteen former chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers, plus two former treasury secretaries\u2014all of whom signed onto a statement explaining the rock-solid case for passing legislation to establish a carbon tax and dividends. Some of the most recognizable among the group include Alan Greenspan, George Schultz, Ben Bernanke, Lawrence Summers, Paul Volcker, and, my personal favorite, Janet Yellen. [Read the complete roster here<\/a>.] Their declaration was published just over a year ago in The Wall Street Journal<\/em>. Of course, America still isn\u2019t listening. Acknowledging the importance of this overwhelming consensus on the part of the most accomplished American minds in the field of economics, the Climate Leadership Council called this urgent message \u201cthe largest public statement of economists in history.\u201d<\/p>\n Basically, a carbon tax is a fee on the burning of carbon-based fuels\u2014or greenhouse gases\u2014like oil, gas, and coal. A carbon tax represents a method by which the users of carbon fuels pay for the damage caused to the climate by the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A carbon tax, according to economists and scientists, is probably the single most effective tool in the toolbox to eliminate the use of carbon-based fuels. How the tax works is simple. The tax creates a strong monetary disincentive <\/em>to the continued use of carbon-based fuels as a result of higher costs. These higher costs motivate a switch to clean energy by making non-carbon fuels and energy efficiency more cost competitive.<\/p>\n Boulder, Colorado, became the first city to pass a voter-approved carbon tax in 2007. Boulder\u2019s carbon tax is based on the number of kilowatt-hours used in the generation of electricity.\u00a0 According to Boulder officials, the carbon tax has reduced emissions by more than 100,000 tons a year and generated up to $1.8 million in revenue per year at a modest cost to residential and commercial users. The funds are funneled through the city\u2019s Office of Environmental Affairs and pay for implementation of the Boulder Climate Action, which includes rebates on energy-efficient equipment, expansion of bike lanes, and funding for community-based solutions to reduce energy consumption.<\/p>\n The answer, unfortunately, is not much, even though public calls for federal climate action\u2014including a price on carbon\u2014from private citizens and environmental groups, as well as businesses in the energy, food, and transport sectors, have grown louder. Over the past few years, discussions in Congress about a federal carbon-tax proposal have repeatedly been floated only to fade away. The political will simply isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n With a Republican president in the White House and a Republican majority in the Senate, discussion of any <\/em>new tax isn\u2019t going to see the light of day. However, even though the most vociferous climate-change deniers occupy the Republican side of the two chambers of Congress, in 2019 carbon-tax bills have been introduced by both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate. Carbon-tax bills introduced by Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE), Representative Dan Lipinski (D-IL), and Representative Francis Rooney (R-FL) have proposed using the tax-generated revenue for measures as varied as payroll tax cuts, investments in innovation and infrastructure, and carbon dividends (or equal lump-sum rebates to all U.S. citizens, as proposed by the economists\u2019 statement).<\/p>\n No riddle here. From a climate as well as a social-justice and economic perspective, those benefits sound like a win-win if ever there was one.<\/p>\n Global climate change is a serious problem calling for immediate national action. Guided by sound economic principles, we are united in the following policy recommendations.<\/p>\n III.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A sufficiently robust and gradually rising carbon tax will replace the need for various carbon regulations that are less efficient. Substituting a price signal for cumbersome regulations will promote economic growth and provide the regulatory certainty companies need for long- term investment in clean-energy alternatives.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a riddle. How many economists does it take to sound the alarm on the need for immediate action to address global climate change?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":40670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,451,715],"tags":[3507,3506,1283],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Is a Carbon Tax?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Has Any Community in the U.S. Passed a Carbon Tax?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Is There Any Action on a Carbon Tax from the Federal Government?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Economists\u2019 Statement on Carbon Dividends<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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