Climate Change and Tax Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Climate Change and Tax Policy - Essay Example Carbon Tax is a kind of Pollution Tax purported to be applied on the energy sources which emit carbon dioxide. (Wikipedia)1 The Carbon Emission Trading on the other hand as provided by Kyoto Protocol involves the global trading of permits to emit green house gases converted in terms of Carbon dioxide. (Wikipedia) 2 Obviously there is a need to put a price on carbon to force companies to abandon older, dirtier technologies for newer, cleaner ones. Today the atmosphere is being used as municipal dump where carbon dioxide is deposited free. The New York Times (2007) 3 Once the governments start putting a monetary value on this privilege, business and industrial houses will be forced to evolve smarter ways to run their business. A carbon tax is one approach. Another is to impose a steadily decreasing cap on emissions and Several arguments are being advocated for and against each of these two forms of measures that can be undertaken by the different countries of the world. This case study ______________________________________________________________________ Carbon tax is based on the carbon content of the fuel being consumed by each entity individually. Under economic theory carbon tax represents an indirect tax on the negative externality as such tax would add up to the actual cost of production by internalizing the social cost of polluting the environment by emitting carbon dioxide and other gases. Charles Komanoff (2007)5 opines that to attack global warming, every energy-critical decision needs to be predicated on a trajectory of rising energy prices. A phased-in carbon tax allows this, whereas cap-and-trade will do little to mitigate the price roller-coaster that discourages emissions-minimizing investment. 2.1Cases for Carbon Tax: Levying a tax on the emissions will: Reduce the fossil fuel usage and substitute them by clean fuels and technology Provide a revenue steam to enable a progressive tax shifting - Carbon Tax Centre6 Carbon tax could be extended to all carbon based consumptions while trading systems may not be able to reach parts of the transportation and service sectors Transaction costs are lower in the case of carbon tax as compared to emissions trading Carbon taxes pose an effective system for the reduction of emissions as it is a permanent incentive to reduce the emissions Kevin Baumert