cap-and-trade vs. carbon tax

carbon market/shutterstock

To date, the Kyoto Protocol under the UNFCCC is the only route we have had to creating something of a global carbon market. Two new cornerstones of the international discussion, could effectively work together.[read more]

smog in China/shutterstock

A senior official from China’s Ministry of Finance recently described plans for a national carbon tax as part of a new package of environmental protection taxes.[read more]

Carbon Tax via Shutterstock

 

The recent demise of serious political consideration of an economy-wide U.S. CO2 cap-and-trade system and the even more recent resurgence in interest among policy wonks in a U.S. carbon tax should prompt reflection on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we may be going.[read more]

Edward L. Glaeser makes the case for simplicity in addressing climate change. I couldn’t agree more with his premise. The basic economics are indeed simple. Climate change might be the largest market failure the world has ever seen. To correct it, put the right incentives in place: correct the fact that we currently treat the atmosphere...[read more]

From Green Gold Blog David Gold heads up cleantech investments for Access Venture Partners and previously spent time in public policy and as an entrepreneur. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------  As we have seen in just the past few years, fossil fuel prices can vary dramatically over very...[read more]

The message from industry leaders attending the MIT Energy Conference this weekend is clear: "Give us a clear price on carbon." John Rowe, CEO of Exelon, has long been a proponent of cap-and-trade. He reiterated this support this morning in his opening keynote, saying he felt "a bit like Elizabeth Taylor's eighth husband: I know...[read more]

Yale Environment 360 asked a number of environmentalists, economists, and academics to explain which approach – cap-and-trade or a carbon tax – they preferred. There was disagreement on many points, but on one issue most concurred. As Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, said, imposing some sort of...[read more]

Can't read the sign? Don't worry about it, no one knows what cap-and-trade is anyway. What the hell is cap-and-trade, and how does it relate to global warming? Our weekly “Communicating Climate Change” series will examine the challenges involved with writing on climate issues. It will often feature interviews with communicators, like...[read more]