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PenguinEmpireReports's avatar

Great points! Yes, the tangled web of dependence on subsidies will make progress very difficult.

But a carbon tax is another subsidy. It’s basically a ‘reverse’ subsidy designed to discourage (unabated) fossil fuel use. So it’s a reverse subsidy for renewables.

A carbon tax would create a whole other web of measurement problems. Trying to measure and audit someone that everyone of us makes (co2) would be a massive expansion of bureaucracy. Of course, you could only target say power plants but then you’d have to figure out how to reliably replace the electricity.

Ultimately, a carbon tax (especially if it floated ontop of the complex bureaucracy) would simply drive up the cost of energy for everyday voters.

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smopecakes's avatar

This is a really interesting point. I suppose I would propose that the tax be modulated according to the effect - not the cost - of the local taxes or regulations

It might be really interesting to lay a $50/tonne tax down and note to California that their state regulations undoubtedly costing in the $200s+ entitle them to... $50 off

I'm a big fan of the concept that a carbon tax is the best weapon against worse implementations, maybe even in retrospect

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Steve Fisher's avatar

Why bother going through all the complications and convolutions of what current regulations and subsidies would be duplicated by a carbon tax? Clearly if a carbon tax is ever adopted it will simply be piled on top of the existing mountain of anti-fossil fuels/pro green energy provisions.

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Travis Fisher's avatar

Thanks for reading! If you want to discuss strategy, please send me an email at tfisher at Cato dot org

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Steve Fisher's avatar

No relation.

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