Climate Task Force Co-Founder Calls for Carbon Tax

Elaine C. Kamarck, former domestic policy advisor to Vice President Al
Gore and co-founder of the U.S. Climate Task Force, is pushing for a
U.S. carbon tax, instead of a complex cap-and-trade system, such as the
one passed by the House of Representatives last week. 

She publisehd a report last week that examines lessons learned from
past efforts to legislate on climate change and how those precedents
can be applied to help pass an emissions policy in the 111th Congress.

"Many legislators are pushing for a U.S. cap-and-trade system. Though I
share their strong resolve to address the risks of climate change,
evidence shows that the problems implementing carbon trading measures
are so complex that they may not allow Americans to meet our ‘green’
goals," Kamarck said.

"The bottom line is we need to put a price on carbon. Using lessons
learned from our past efforts to legislate on climate change, my new
paper demonstrates how a carbon tax-shift would accomplish that goal.
In addition to rebating its revenues back to the people in ways that
shift the burden of taxation from employment to pollution, a carbon tax
has the advantage of being simple, transparent and easy to administer."

According to her analysis, these lessons fall into five categories:

1. Cost – Extent of economic impact on U.S. families
2. Complexity – Scale of system; opportunity for evasion, manipulation and corruption
3. Fairness – Distribution of costs and benefits through all segments of society
4. Compatibility – Ease of integration of U.S. policy with international efforts
5. Effectiveness – Ability to efficiently curb emissions and mitigate climate change

Kamarck elaborated on these points, explaining: "More than 30 years
have passed since scientists introduced the notion of global warming
into the American political dialogue. And now–with Congress
considering a federal emissions bill and the White House preparing to
negotiate a new U.N. agreement on climate change–the debate over
policies to mitigate domestic greenhouse gas emissions has reached an
entirely new level of importance."

In calling for a carbon tax, Kamarack joins other notable
figures, such as climate scientist James Hansen and journalist Thomas
Friedman, who believe that a carbon cap-and-trade system will not be
effective enough in reducing emissions.

Kamarack’s paper "Addressing Climate Change: The Politics of the Policy Options" is available at the link below.