Or at least think about how you will talk about them in January . . . It now seems likely that Joe Biden will win the presidency, and there is a reasonable chance that Democrats will capture the Senate as well. If they do get unified control of the government, climate policy will high on their legislative agenda. What is unclear is whether their approach will include a carbon tax. This is troubling, because carbon taxes have very substantial economic and political advantages over other approaches to climate policy. No doubt many Congressional Democrats understand the arguments for carbon taxes, although some progressives seem to be skeptical of using prices to reduce emissions. Joe Biden’s climate plan says that “polluters must bear the full cost of
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Or at least think about how you will talk about them in January . . .
It now seems likely that Joe Biden will win the presidency, and there is a reasonable chance that Democrats will capture the Senate as well. If they do get unified control of the government, climate policy will high on their legislative agenda. What is unclear is whether their approach will include a carbon tax. This is troubling, because carbon taxes have very substantial economic and political advantages over other approaches to climate policy.
No doubt many Congressional Democrats understand the arguments for carbon taxes, although some progressives seem to be skeptical of using prices to reduce emissions. Joe Biden’s climate plan says that “polluters must bear the full cost of the carbon pollution they are emitting”, which seems like an oblique reference to a carbon tax. But so far Democrats have been avoiding the “t word” and instead emphasizing subsidies, direct job creation, and social justice, and this will make it difficult to switch gears after the election and implement a carbon tax. The Democrats may be painting themselves into a rhetorical corner.
Any strong climate bill will face real challenges getting through Congress and maintaining political support. Getting a carbon tax through Congress and preventing a public backlash will clearly require an effort to familiarize the public with the idea. I believe this is possible, but Democrats (and Republicans) who support carbon taxation need to think about how and when this conversation will unfold.