Search Results for "ken green"
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Report from Copenhagen: Forget carbon targets, just set a price (December 19, 2009)
Copenhagen, 19 December 2009
While the mainstream press lamented the COP15 stalemate, and delegates struggled through the night to spin their impasse over “targets” and “verification” into some semblance of progress, the scene was harmonious, even jubilant at Klimaforum, the “people’s climate summit” near Copenhagen’s main train station Friday night.
Klimaforum negotiations coordinator Mathilde Kaalund-Jørgensen proclaimed [...] -
Memo to Sen. Kerry: Climate Science Includes Economics (November 12, 2009)
U.S. climate activists are gleeful at Sen. John Kerry’s demolition of a sometime climate skeptic at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, and justly so. Ken Green, a resident scholar for the corporate-financed American Enterprise Institute, won the respect of carbon tax advocates two years ago, when he co-authored an AEI report that powerfully [...]
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The Three Newest Flaws in Cap-and-Trade (September 29, 2009)
Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer (CA) and John Kerry (MA) are expected to introduce their long-awaited climate-change bill tomorrow. As the Houston Chronicle reported last weekend, the bill was delayed for months “by negotiations aimed at appeasing moderate Democrats worried that new emissions caps could impose hefty economic costs on the energy industry, struggling manufacturers and [...]
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What Can Replace Faltering Cap-and-Trade? (August 20, 2009)
Is Waxman-Markey doomed? Revulsion at the special favors and sheer complexity built into the 1,400-page bill that squeaked through the House in June has been building nationwide this summer. Now, a Washington Post editorial signals the impending collapse of not just the bill but of cap-and-trade as the central mechanism for controlling U.S. greenhouse gas [...]
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Action Alert: Overhaul or Scrap ACESA (June 23, 2009)
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote later this week on the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009” (H.R. 2454, “Waxman-Markey” or “ACESA”). We cannot endorse the bill. The hundreds of provisions in ACESA’s 1,000-plus pages do not add up to the steps needed to avert catastrophic climate disruption. Moreover, the bill’s [...]
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Wanted: Cloudsplitter (May 22, 2009)
(Originally posted on May 21 on Grist, under the title, Waxman-Markey: ‘80% less by 2050’ is too hard, let’s do 46%.)
I’ve read humongous books in my time, most memorably Cloudsplitter, Russell Banks’ magisterial cinderblock-sized novel of John Brown, the anti-slavery warrior whose “Bloody Kansas” campaign in the 1850s helped provoke the Civil War.
The similarly supersized [...] -
Regional Disparities
As debate over climate legislation heats up in the 111th Congress, some members are voicing concern that measures to impose a price on carbon emissions will disproportionately burden energy users in their district or state. “We’re looking for some type of regional equity in whatever they propose,” said Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) during Energy and [...]
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Ken Green on Obama’s Perilous First Carbon Step (April 14, 2009)
Ken Green on Obama’s Perilous First Carbon Step (AEI Journal)
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USCAP “Blueprint” Chorus Sings Complex Tune to Half-Empty Caucus Room (January 17, 2009)
Reported by CTC Washington representative James Handley. Watch this space (and see postscript below) for CTC’s analysis of the USCAP "Blueprint." Meanwhile, read these parallel critiques of USCAP:
Joseph Romm of the Center for American Progress, via his Climate Progress blog, NRDC and EDF endorse the weak, coal-friendly, rip-offset-heavy USCAP climate plan.
Statement by Robert Shapiro, director, [...] -
Happy New Year – A New Political Reality for Carbon Taxes (December 29, 2008)
For too long the conventional wisdom has been that while carbon taxes may be superior to cap-and-trade schemes, there is no way that politicians would ever support a new tax, even one that was revenue-neutral. Environmentalists who might otherwise be supporting a carbon tax because it could produce real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions far [...]
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Capitol Hill Briefing on Carbon Taxes Draws Overflow Crowd (December 9, 2008)
Carbon Tax CenterPricing carbon equitably and efficientlywww.carbontax.org
News Release / For immediate releaseContacts: Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com, 914-589-5988 / Nick Berning, NBerning@foe.org, 703-587-4454
Making the Case for a National Carbon TaxNASA Lead Climate Scientist, House Democratic Caucus Leader, Senior Economists and Environmental Leaders Urge Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax as Best Way to Curb US CO2 Emissions and Boost American [...]
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NRDC Evolves from Cap-and-Trade to “Cap-and-Invest.” Keep going… (October 2, 2008)
A special report for the Carbon Tax Center by James F. Handley
For almost four decades, the powerhouse Natural Resources Defense Council has stood as the green movement’s stronghold for regulation-based eco-solutions. It has fought for, and won, energy-efficiency standards for appliances, cars and buildings; renewable-energy quotas for electricity supply; and parts–per-million regulations on chemicals in [...] -
Carbon Revenue Recycling is Focus of Capitol Hill Briefing (September 17, 2008)
Reported for the Carbon Tax Center by James F. Handley
[Ed. note -- two days after the Capitol Hill briefing, on Thurs. Sept. 18, the House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony on optimal pricing of carbon emissions, including a forceful presentation from carbon tax advocate New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; watch this space for [...] -
Could Palin Pick Spotlight “Alaska Dividend” Solution to Climate Crisis? (August 29, 2008)
Note: On Oct. 15, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation wrote CTC with helpful details that clarify and correct some of the representations in our Aug. 29 post. The APFC graciously granted permission for us to print their e-mail in full, which we have done at the foot of this post. — C.K.
John McCain’s pick for [...] -
Media Maturity Smoothing Carbon Tax Path (August 2, 2008)
Match the statement with the "green" source:
Statement 1: Expensive energy is a powerful medicine. It may hurt when taken, but it brings long-term cures for a host of ills.
Statement 2: Willingness to advocate an explicit carbon tax is the real test of whether either [presidential] candidate is ready to confront [global warming].
Statement 3: Pricey gas [...] -
A Convenient Tax – June 2008 (June 27, 2008)
We launched the Carbon Tax Center seventeen months ago to inform and engage the public about the need for and benefits of revenue-neutral carbon taxation. Coincidentally, that same week the United States Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of mainstream environmental organizations, major electricity generators and giant industrial corporations, announced its formation and legislative agenda: a [...]
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We Explain Gasoline Demand (including why it’s sticky) (May 12, 2008)
With gas at $3.50 a gallon in April, the U.S. mainstream media is replete with stories of drivers abandoning SUV’s, hopping on mass transit, and otherwise cutting back on gasoline. Yet a year or two ago, when pump prices were approaching and even passing the $3.00 “barrier,” the media mantra was that demand for gasoline [...]
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Near-Unanimity for Tax at TV Roundtable on Carbon Pricing (April 24, 2008)
Guest Post by James Handley
When brand-new Clean Skies TV invited me to advocate a carbon tax at its Webcast roundtable, I worried that I might be cast as a fringe type. Instead, the taping (on-line soon, use link above) went off like a grad school seminar, yet livelier.
My co-panelists were heavy hitters: economists Robert Shapiro [...] -
Dingell: My Carbon Tax Bill is “Off the Table” (April 16, 2008)
The carbon tax camp lost a powerful Congressional voice yesterday when Rep. John Dingell announced he was taking “off the table” the hybrid carbon tax proposal he floated last fall that featured a national carbon fee, supplemental increases in taxes on gasoline and aviation fuel, and a reduction in the mortgage interest deduction for super-large [...]
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NYC “Congestion” Failure Provokes Questions on Carbon Pricing (April 8, 2008)
The year-long effort to enact congestion pricing in New York City had a lot going for it:
Traffic congestion is roundly despised. Gridlock has few defenders.
NYC’s mass transit system, the asserted beneficiary of revenues from the traffic fee, is riding a 25-year upswing and is understood to be the linchpin of the city’s prosperity.
A broad coalition [...] -
Guest Column: Behind the Cap-and-Trade “Safety Valve” (March 11, 2008)
This post reprints in its entirety a column today by veteran Washington reporter Darren Samuelsohn of ClimateWire, a new on-line news service published by E&E News. Samuelsohn’s column focuses on the controversial "safety valve" mechanism that would release additional CO2 permits whenever the price of carbon emissions overshot some set limit. The column, while lengthy, [...]
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Bloomberg Out, Nader In U.S. Presidential Race (February 28, 2008)
Michael Bloomberg has made it official. “I am not — and will not be — a candidate for president,” New York City’s mayor said in an op-ed in today’s New York Times.
The article ends months of speculation that Bloomberg, a self-made billionaire who has emphasized a managerial, non-partisan approach to governing, would enter the [...] -
Myths
The entrenched power of the fossil-fuel industry and its political backers isn’t all that stands in the way of climate-saving carbon taxes. Outmoded ideas and enduring myths about energy use and taxes are also a factor.
This page describes and dissects some of these misconceptions. Please send us your own favorite fallacies about carbon taxes. Ditto [...]
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Cap and Trade versus Carbon Tax – Kenneth Green of the American Enterprise Institute (December 23, 2007)
Cap and Trade versus Carbon Tax – Kenneth Green of the American Enterprise Institute at the AIER Global Climate Change Conference (YouTube)
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A Carbon Tax When Oil Approaches $100/Barrel? (November 9, 2007)
Rising Global Demand for Oil Provoking New Energy Crisis according to today’s New York Times. Yesterday’s front page of the Wall Street Journal headlined As Energy Prices Soar, U.S. Industries Collide.
Why not just rely upon high gasoline prices to bring down demand instead of “adding insult to injury” with a carbon tax? [...] -
A Convenient Tax — Issue #3 (November 8, 2007)
Welcome to the latest issue of CTC’s newsletter, A Convenient Tax, summarizing the Carbon Tax Center’s progress in advancing carbon taxes in the United States. (For Issue #2, click here.)
These are heady times for CTC. Each week, and sometimes every day, brings a major development in carbon pricing. Sometimes it has our fingerprints, and sometimes [...] -
Business Think-Tank Slams Cap, Tilts toward Tax (November 1, 2007)
"A significant portion of the business community would prefer a carbon tax" to a carbon cap-and-trade system, an official of a leading pro-business lobby group declared today.
In an interview on E&E TV, Margo Thorning, senior vice president and chief economist at the American Council for Capital Formation, honed in on one of the key advantages [...] -
Sarkozy backs carbon tax, EU levy on non-Kyoto imports (October 25, 2007)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, appearing alongside Al Gore at an environmental forum in Paris, today called for a national
"carbon tax" on global-warming pollutants and a European levy on imports from countries outside the Kyoto Protocol, according to Agence France-Presse.
Following are excerpts from AFP’s report posted on the Web in the last hour:
Wrapping up a four-month [...] -
China Moving Toward Price on Carbon? (October 23, 2007)
A major new report commissioned by the governments of China and Brazil has called for a carbon tax — or a carbon cap-and-trade system that would also impose a carbon price.
Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future, authored by leading scientists and
energy experts from 13 countries including Russia, India, Canada,
Kenya, Egypt, Japan, and the [...] -
Yes, Dingell is Beholden to Detroit, But He’s Right about Carbon Taxes (October 11, 2007)
After being roundly ignored, or worse, by the mainstream environmental groups, Rep. John Dingell’s carbon-tax proposal finally gained a ringing defense last weekend in the Financial Times (U.K.), reprinted below.
While we don’t share Clive Crook’s disdain for CAFE standards — he overplays the "rebound effect," for one thing — we appreciate his clear expression of [...] -
Authors/Writers/Pundits
This page, featuring authors, writers and “pundits” (newspaper and magazine columnists, principally), is one of half-a-dozen compiling expressions of support for carbon taxes (or more targeted taxes, e.g., on gasoline) by notable individuals and organizations. Use Navigation Bar at top of page to access other pages.
New York Times columnistsThree of the Times’ seven regular editorial [...]
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Editorial Positions
This page, featuring Editorial Positions (by newspapers, magazines, etc., rather than merely opinions expressed by columnists or reporters), is one of half-a-dozen compiling expressions of support for carbon taxes (or more targeted taxes, e.g., on gasoline) by notable individuals and organizations. Use Navigation Bar at top of page to access other pages.
The New York Times
Editorials [...] -
Opinion Leaders
This page, featuring “opinion leaders” — environmental, business and religious — is one of half-a-dozen compiling expressions of support for carbon taxes (or more targeted taxes, e.g., on gasoline) by notable individuals and organizations. Use Navigation Bar at top of page to access other pages.
Environmental Organizations and LeadersLester Brown, Earth Policy Institute: “We need a [...]
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Public Officials
This page, featuring Public Officials (both present and former), is one of five compiling expressions of support for putting a price on carbon by notable individuals and organizations. Use Navigation Bar at top of page to access other pages.
Obama Administration
Energy Secretary Stephen Chu
In an interview published in the New York Times in February 2009, Secretary [...] -
Winning Arguments
Thousands of voices besides CTC’s are calling for carbon taxes. Many are at least as persuasive as ours. Here’s a sampling of stellar voices:
From a June 2007 report from the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.
From a series of Spring 2007 editorials in the Los Angeles Times.
A Nov. 29, 2007 WashingtonPost.com op-ed by two RAND [...] -
Keep Carbon Tax in the Mix of Solutions (July 14, 2007)
Keep Carbon Tax in the Mix of Solutions (Detroit Free Press – Editorial)
In a powerful endorsement of a carbon tax, the Detroit Free Press stated in a July 12, 2007 editorial:
A tax on carbon dioxide emissions, phased in gradually but relentlessly, would be the most transparent and efficient step this country could take in the [...] -
Who is Daniel Sperling and why is he saying bad things about carbon taxes? (June 22, 2007)
Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times ran an odd op-ed calling carbon taxes an ineffectual antidote to global warming. Unlike other critiques that brand carbon taxes as politically unpalatable, this
one argued that they’re simply not up to the job of cutting carbon emissions:
"Carbon taxes — taxes on energy sources that emit carbon dioxide (CO2) — aren’t a [...] -
AEI Slams Cap, Touts Tax (June 4, 2007)
The American Enterprise Institute has a concise new (June 2007) report comparing carbon caps with carbon taxes for combating climate change. AEI’s clear verdict: "carbon-centered tax reform — not GHG [greenhouse gases] emission trading — is the superior policy option."
Coming from a powerful right-of-center D.C. think tank, this resounding endorsement of carbon taxing will likely [...] -
A Convenient Tax — Issue #2 (June 4, 2007)
Welcome to the second issue of A Convenient Tax, the Carbon Tax Center’s newsletter, summarizing our progress in April and May. (For Issue #1, click here.)
The big carbon-tax developments this spring have been (i) the first overt expressions of Congressional support for a carbon tax, (ii) a torrent of criticism of the competing “cap-and-trade” approach [...] -
Is Cap-and-Trade Big Green’s Dead-End? (May 25, 2007)
When we resolved late last year to create the Carbon Tax Center, we thought our big battles would be fought with climate-crisis deniers, plus occasional skirmishes with doctrinaire leftists decrying attempts to graft carbon taxes onto an unjust social and economic structure. Little did we dream that our most contentious disputes would be with fellow [...]
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Rep. Stark Introduces Carbon Tax Bill (April 26, 2007)
California Democrat Fortney “Pete” Stark, the second-most senior member of the House Ways & Means Committee, today introduced legislation to take aim at global warming by taxing the carbon content of fossil fuels.
Rep. Stark, who has represented Fremont, Hayward and other East Bay communities since 1971, said the “Save Our Climate Act” would establish the [...] -
Industry Caught in Carbon Trading Smokescreen (April 26, 2007)
Here’s the full text of this fascinating and timely story from the Financial Times. — C.K.
Industry Caught in Carbon ‘Smokescreen’ (Financial Times)
By Fiona Harvey and Stephen Fidler in London
Published: April 25 2007 22:07
Companies and individuals rushing to go green have been spending millions on ‘carbon credit’ projects that yield few if any environmental benefits.
A Financial [...] -
Polls
International
A recent BBC poll with a sample of 22,000 people in 21 countries, found that in 14 countries “a majority (61% on average overall) say it will be necessary to increase energy costs to encourage conservation and reduce carbon emissions.” The poll found that 74% of Americans support paying a higher tax on coal and oil [...] -
Tax vs. Cap-Trade
April 2009 updates: Robert Shapiro, chair and cofounder of the U.S. Climate Task Force and former Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, makes a compelling political case that “the costs and lessons of the financial crisis may effectively swamp the prospects for cap-and-trade. If cap-and-trade has become a dead policy walking, those who care deeply [...]
