Sinema’s Income Tax Stance Has Democrats Looking Anew at a Carbon Tax
RFF analysis and commentary by RFF President Richard Newell are featured in this article by the New York Times.
Economists have said for decades that a carbon tax, which would make the use of heavily polluting fuels more expensive, is the most effective way to shift the economy away from fossil fuels toward wind, solar and nuclear power, which do not produce the emissions that are heating the planet.
“A price on carbon, such as a carbon tax, provides the economic incentive for the quickest, cheapest and most comprehensive emission reductions across the entire economy,” said Richard Newell, president of Resources for the Future, a nonpartisan energy and environment research organization...
A recent analysis by Mr. Newell’s staff found that a tax on American carbon dioxide pollution that started at $15 per ton and escalated to $50 per ton by 2030 would cut domestic carbon emissions by about 44 percent from 2005 levels — getting the Biden administration most of the way to its ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 50 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. It also found that such a program could actually lead to lower, not higher, electricity bills.
