green4us

Five years in, BC’s carbon tax has successfully reduced greenhouse gas emissions in a stable economy. Hobolens/Flickr Carbon emissions have an unavoidable cost. When we burn fossil fuels and release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it increases the greenhouse effect. The resulting climate change has costs, for example by causing more extreme weather. More frequent and intense heat waves and droughts can damage crops, causing food prices to rise, more intense floods can cause more property damage, etc. Lacking a price attached to carbon emissions in the marketplace, we’re effectively putting those costs on a credit card. We may not immediately see the costs, but they keep building up. In fact they’re building up with interest, because the costs of climate damage are higher than the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. When we put a price on carbon in the marketplace, consumers can see the costs associated with greenhouse gas emissions and adjust their consumption in an informed manner without continuing to build up that climate credit card debt. To keep reading, click here.

Link:  

Can a Carbon Tax Work Without Hurting the Economy? Ask British Columbia

Related Posts

Cutting Carbon Dioxide Isn’t Enough
Can This Contraption Make Fracking Greener?
Dot Earth Blog: Kerry Proposes U.S.-India Push on Carbon and Climate
The Worst Way to Measure Energy Efficiency
Large Rise in CO2 Emissions Sounds Climate Change Alarm

Share this:

Excerpt from:

Can a Carbon Tax Work Without Hurting the Economy? Ask British Columbia