The Pros And Cons Of Carbon Tax

Carbon Tax, It’s in the Facts
Nearly three quarters of Americans believe that carbon dioxide (CO2) should be regulated as a pollutant (Marlon). Yet, little action has been taken to ensure that there is enough government intervention in carbon fuel industries to have the impact that consumers desire. The federal government has offered support to renewable energy sources in the form of subsidies and visible advocacy, but these efforts are insufficient to combating the long-term impacts of heavy dependence on fossil fuels and other carbon-sourced energy sources. So, the answer lies in a carbon tax, whereby the federal government will enact a tax on any carbon-based fuels that American consumers use. That is, there will be very slight increases

Michael Obeiter, the current Energy and Climate Advisor for U.S. Senator Brian Schatz declared in a 2015 article that the current legal restrictions are inadequate to meet the long-term targets to reduce carbon emissions. He suggests that legislation which prices emissions of greenhouse gases will be the ultimate solution, citing Denmark, which has reduced emissions almost 33 percent since 1990 (Obeiter). The fact that one country may be able to cut its carbon emissions by a third in just fifteen years validates that the addition of a carbon tax in conjunction with long-standing efforts to reduce society’s environmental impact can produce momentous effects if implemented in other countries. Moreover, a modeling study by Cambridge Econometrics conducted in 2005 suggested that in the United Kingdom, the Climate Change Levy [the carbon tax] has the potential to decrease energy demand by approximately 15% (12.8 million metric tons) in both the public and commercial aspects of society by 2010. (Sumner). Such a significant reduction in the commercial and public energy demand of the U.S. could influence private sectors to do the same, meaning that the overall energy demand could decrease even further. With the U.S. having a strong nonrenewable energy demand, a 15% decrease could translate to far-reaching impacts greater than that of the United Kingdom. Richard Caperton, the Director of the Clean Energy Investment program at the Center for American Progress asserted that “the tax will discourage pollution, therefore discouraging the use of fossil fuels while promoting cleaner energies. It can be increased over time to continue incentivizing polluters to lower their emission rates (Caperton)”. Evidently, enacting a carbon tax has environmental benefits beyond reducing carbon emissions as it also discourages pollution of all forms. Furthermore, this director clearly