| JDogg | Date: Tuesday, 2012-12-04, 11:01 AM | Message # 1 |
|
Private
Group: Administrators
Messages: 8
Status: Offline
| A carbon tax is a Pigovian tax levied on the carbon content of fuels.[1] It is a form of carbon pricing. Carbon is present in every hydrocarbon fuel (coal, petroleum, and natural gas) and is released as carbon dioxide (CO2) when they are burnt. In contrast, non-combustion energy sources—wind, sunlight, hydropower, and nuclear—do not convert hydrocarbons to CO2. CO2 is a heat-trapping "greenhouse" gas.[2] Scientists have pointed to the potential effects on the climate system of releasing greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere (see scientific opinion on global warming).[2][3][4] Since GHG emissions caused by the combustion of fossil fuels are closely related to the carbon content of the respective fuels, a tax on these emissions can be levied by taxing the carbon content of fossil fuels at any point in the product cycle of the fuel.[5]
Carbon taxes offer a potentially cost-effective means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.[6] From an economic perspective, carbon taxes are a type of Pigovian tax.[7] They help to address the problem of emitters of greenhouse gases not facing the full (social) costs of their actions. Carbon taxes are a regressive tax, in that they disproportionately affect low-income groups. The regressive nature of carbon taxes can be addressed by using tax revenues to favour low-income groups.[8]
A number of countries have implemented carbon taxes or energy taxes that are related to carbon content.[9] Most environmentally related taxes with implications for greenhouse gas emissions in OECD countries are levied on energy products and motor vehicles, rather than on CO2 emissions directly.[6]
Opposition to increased environmental regulation such as carbon taxes often centres on concerns that firms might relocate and/or people might lose their jobs.[9] It has been argued, however, that carbon taxes are more efficient than direct regulation and may even lead to higher employment (see footnotes).[9] Many large users of carbon resources in electricity generation, such as the United States, Russia and China, are resisting carbon taxation.
|
| |
| |
| JDogg | Date: Tuesday, 2012-12-04, 11:02 AM | Message # 2 |
|
Private
Group: Administrators
Messages: 8
Status: Offline
| This could be end of life as we know know it today!!!!!!!!!!!
|
| |
| |
