Either a tax or a cap can put a price on climate pollution. The goal is to reduce it.

Published as Letter to the Editor in the New York Times on June 15th, 2015

Keohane, Nathaniel O.

Wagner, Gernot

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Columbia University Academic Commons

The New York TimesPluses and Minuses of a Carbon TaxJune 15th, 2015Either a tax or a cap can put a price on climate pollution. The goal is toreduce it.To the Editor:A price on carbon is an essential tool in reducing climate pollution, but don’t give short shrift to aproven approach: emissions trading.Well-designed pollution markets helped cut acid rain in the United States at a fraction of thepredicted cost. Similar markets are working today to cut carbon pollution in California, seven Chinesecities and provinces, and other countries and regions home to nearly a billion people in all.Even the European Union system you criticize has successfully cut emissions, and given the E.U.confidence to adopt a more stringent target.The goal of climate policy is not simply to price pollution; it is to reduce it. Either a tax or a cap, ifwell designed, can achieve it. So let’s move beyond this debate and focus on the real issue: the needfor ambitious action, at home and abroad, to put the world on a path to a secure and stable climate.Nathaniel O. KeohaneGernot WagnerNew YorkThe writers are, respectively, vice president for international climate and lead senior economist atthe Environmental Defense Fund.Gernot WagnerMashablePublished as Letter to the Editor in the New York Times on June 15th, 2015.Tagged: Cap and Trade, New York Times, Perspective, WashingtonShare on:Up NextWhen dealing with global warming, the sizeof the risk mattersClimate change is both high-impact and high-probability.Tagged: Climate Shock, featured, Hard problem Soft thinking, Perspective, ScienceMore ArticlesKeep in touch.  Whenever There's News Once a Month The Best Thing All Year

Pluses and Minuses of a Carbon Tax

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Pluses and Minuses of a Carbon Tax

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