The idea of a revenue-neutral carbon tax is hardly new. My colleagues Clifford Cobb, Jonathan Rowe, and I wrote about this 20 years ago in an Atlantic cover story. What’s new is that in 2008, the right-of center government in British Columbia introduced such a plan, and sufficient time has now passed to weigh the results. Fossil fuel use in British Columbia has since fallen by 16 percent, as compared to a 3 percent increase in the rest of Canada, and its economy has outperformed the rest of the country. So the benefits of this approach are no longer theoretical.
Washington Post: Greenhouse Gases Hit New Milestone, Fueling Worries About Climate Change
Report: Climate Diplomacy After Paris: Opportunities for U.S. Leadership
Fixing Climate Change May Add No Costs, Report Says
In decades of public debate about global warming, one assumption has been accepted by virtually all factions: that tackling it would necessarily be costly. But a new report casts doubt on that idea, declaring that the necessary fixes could wind up being effectively free.
Bloomberg View: A (Not So) Crazy Idea to Sell Republicans a Carbon Tax
If you were to select the most hopeless cause in Washington, getting Republican lawmakers to support a carbon tax would have to make the shortlist. The idea combines much of what conservatives hate most: a new tax, less coal, a more intrusive government and an acknowledgment that scientists -- worse, scientists at the United Nations! -- might be right about something.
New York Times: Many Conservative Republicans Believe Climate Change Is a Real Threat
By Coral Davenport
WASHINGTON — A majority of Republicans — including 54 percent of self-described conservative Republicans — believe the world’s climate is changing and that mankind plays some role in the change, according to a new survey conducted by three prominent Republican pollsters.