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1 results

  • Chapter 6 - We Must Price Carbon Emissions

  • Mark Jaccard, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
  • Book:
    The Citizen's Guide to Climate Success
    Published online:
    06 February 2020
    Print publication:
    06 February 2020, pp 95-127
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  • Summary

    Economists have a strong preference for a carbon tax because this is the most economically efficient climate policy. But a carbon tax is also the most politically difficult policy because it makes it easier for climate-insincere politicians to defeat climate-sincere politicians. Opponents of climate action find it quite easy to fool some percentage of voters that a carbon tax is punative to them, harmful to the economy, and ineffective anyway. Economists also feel that regulations will be highly inefficient, but this ignores emerging evidence about the cost of using flexible regulations for significant decarbonization. Examples are the low carbon fuel standard and the renewable portfolio standard. Economists need to work with policy science, sociology, and social psychology experts to provide useful information to climate–sincere politicians about the trade-offs between economic efficiency and poltiical acceptability.