Carbon Tax Australia Essay

452 Words2 Pages

Carbon taxes are an economic silver bullet
In addition to carbon taxes’ potential to rapidly reduce the deficit, they provide countries with a new source of revenue, therefore reducing the pressure on politicians to generate funds through social program cuts and income tax hikes. For example, Australia’s recent carbon market is forecast to generate $4 billion in profits in 2013; the UK will make $1.06 billion in same period. The U.S.’ own Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) makes about $200 million annually. Though these numbers are modest in the world of national finance, part of the beauty of a carbon tax is that the cost of carbon can be ratcheted higher, which increases governmental revenue while improving the environment.
It turns out that improving the environment is key to creating a stable economy. Anothernew study shows that the global economy is losing $1.2 trillion (1.6 percent of global GDP) in value annually due to climate change. The study suggests that climate change could cost some nations over 10 percent of their annual GDP by 2030. Americans, who will see …show more content…

Carbon regulation exists in seventeen countries internationally (Finland, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK,Australia, India, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, India, Costa Rica, and parts of Canada (Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta), and nine states domestically (Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maryland, New York, Boulder, CO). Taiwan, China and California seem to be on the path to regulating carbon by 2020, and South Africa will have a carbon tax in place by 2013. Further, nations with carbon markets enjoy some of the strongest economies on the planet. Many American states with carbon regulation suffered least in the recession and recovered faster than states without carbon