Implementing a US carbon tax: challenges and debates

Although the future extent and effects of global climate change remain uncertain, the expected damages are not zero, and risks of serious environmental and macroeconomic consequences rise with increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Despite the uncertainties, reducing emissions now makes sense, and a carbon tax is the simplest, most effective, and least costly way to do this. At the same time, a carbon tax would provide substantial new revenues which may be badly needed, given historically high debt-to-GDP levels, pressures on social security and medical budgets, and calls to ref.

1. Carbon taxes as part of the fiscal solution / William G. Gale, Samuel Brown, and Fernando Saltiel -- 2. Choosing among mitigation instruments : how strong is the case for a US carbon tax? / Ian Parry -- 3. Administration of a US carbon tax / Jack Calder -- 4. Carbon taxes to achieve emissions targets : insights from EMF 24 / Allen A. Fawcett, Leon C. Clarke, and John P. Weyant -- 5. Macroeconomic effects of carbon taxes / Roberton C. Williams III and Casey J. Wichman -- 6. The distributional burden of a carbon tax : evidence and implications for policy / Adele Morris and Apama Mathur -- 7. offsetting a carbon tax's burden on low-income households / Terry Dinan -- 8. Carbon taxes and corporate tax reform / Donald B. Marron and Eric Toder -- 9. Carbon taxes and energy-intensive trade-exposed industries : impacts and options / Carolyn Fischer, Richard Morgenstern, and Nathan Richardson -- 10. The role of energy technology policy alongside carbon pricing / Richard G. Newell -- 11. Mixing it up : power sector energy and regional and regulatory climate policies in the presence of a carbon tax / Dallas Burtraw and Karen L. Palmer -- 12. Implications of carbon taxes for transportation policies / Ian Parry and Kenneth A. Small -- 13. Comparing countries' climate mitigation efforts in a post-Kyoto world / Joseph E. Aldy and William A. Pizer.

Although the future extent and effects of global climate change remain uncertain, the expected damages are not zero, and risks of serious environmental and macroeconomic consequences rise with increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Despite the uncertainties, reducing emissions now makes sense, and a carbon tax is the simplest, most effective, and least costly way to do this. At the same time, a carbon tax would provide substantial new revenues which may be badly needed, given historically high debt-to-GDP levels, pressures on social security and medical budgets, and calls to ref

Although the future extent and effects of global climate change remain uncertain, the expected damages are not zero, and risks of serious environmental and macroeconomic consequences rise with increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Despite the uncertainties, reducing emissions now makes sense, and a carbon tax is the simplest, most effective, and least costly way to do this. At the same time, a carbon tax would provide substantial new revenues which may be badly needed, given historically high debt-to-GDP levels, pressures on social security and medical budgets, and calls to reform taxes on personal and corporate income. This book is about the practicalities of introducing a carbon tax in the United States, set against the broader fiscal context. It consists of thirteen chapters, written by leading experts, covering the full range of issues policymakers would need to understand, such as the revenue potential of a carbon tax, how the tax can be administered, the advantages of carbon taxes over other mitigation instruments and the environmental and macroeconomic impacts of the tax. A carbon tax can work in the United States. This volume shows how, by laying out sound design principles, opportunities for broader policy reforms, and feasible solutions to specific implementation challenges