If a carbon tax helps lower emissions, why doesn't the U.S. have one?

Oct 29, 2021
The tax has been a contentious topic among Washington lawmakers, but the U.S. is behind industrialized nations in not having one in place.
A carbon tax would provide information on how much consumers and companies are willing to pay to pollute. Above, a coal-fired plant releasing carbon emissions in Maidsville, West Virginia, in 2018.
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How will the world respond to the European Union's proposed carbon border tax?

Jul 19, 2021
Scott Barrett of Columbia University thinks countries may adopt their own trade-oriented approaches to battling climate change.
Flags of the European Union member states hang inside the Council of the European Union's Lex building in Brussels.
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How might putting a price on carbon work to curb emissions?

Mar 3, 2021
One way to pay directly for the cost of climate damage from fossil fuels is to impose a tax on carbon.
More expensive fuel discourages consumers from burning as much and encourages fuel efficiency.
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A tax on red meat is imminent, researchers say

For years, analysts have been working to find financial tools for curbing certain behaviors.
"Everybody has to pay for climate damages, and many people in the states have to pay privately for health care. So it would make much more sense if they saw those costs in the prices of foods that are really related to those impacts," Marco Springmann says.
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Are Republicans softening on carbon taxes?

Sep 12, 2018
A few GOP lawmakers are bucking the party line by backing a tax on CO2 emissions.
The smoke stacks at American Electric Power's Mountaineer coal power plant in New Haven, West Virginia, in 2009.
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The argument for implementing a carbon tax

Dec 15, 2016
The world is embracing sustainability, says one Marketplace contributor.
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Canada will have a carbon price. Will the US?

Oct 4, 2016
The policy will have to balance pushing climate goals with not getting too far ahead.
A night view of the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada.
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

To cut emissions, Canada could expand carbon pricing

Jul 19, 2016
If Canada rolls out carbon pricing nationally, how will it affect the US?
An aerial view of the Suncor oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada.
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Are low oil prices an opening for a carbon tax?

Jan 5, 2015
If a tax is not imposed on carbon-dioxide emissions, gas is artificially underpriced.

The value of 'second-best solutions' to global warming

Jun 23, 2014
Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says we need a carbon tax to prevent a global-warming catastrophe. But if Congress won't act?