What’s a Carbon Tax?

A carbon tax is a fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels. Though levied “upstream” where the coal, oil or gas is extracted or imported, it charges fossil fuel users for the climate damage their fuel use causes by releasing heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If the tax or charge is large enough, it will motivate profound changes in technology, investment and behavior that will vastly accelerate the replacement of dirty fossil energy with climate-saving clean energy.