Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2018)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018 editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher JIM VAN NOSTRAND Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager PRO-CON Is carbon tax the right way to fight climate change? AP Photo/Branden Camp The coal-fired Plant Scherer, one of the nation’s top carbon dioxide emitters, in Juliette, Ga. PRO: It’s time for energy producers to get on board C arbon taxes are a mechanism that These two observations create the possi- bility for a win-win tax reform. puts a price on emissions of carbon Because it costs the economy less to raise dioxide, generally focused on fossil fuel sources. revenue with carbon taxes than with labor When the price of carbon dioxide emis- and capital taxes, a shift toward the more sions go up, so does the cost of fossil fuels, environmentally friendly tax could also so consumers and producers use less energy reduce the overall cost of our tax system, and and consequently emit less. stimulate employment and investment, even In February 2017 James Baker III, George as it induces emissions reductions. Schultz and a group of conservative politi- Analysis by two leading public finance cians and economists published a clear and economists, Ian Parry and Roberton Wil- liams, demonstrates that a tax of $33 per ton convincing call to adopt a carbon tax in the of carbon dioxide — about 25 cents on a gal- United States. lon of gas and less than a couple of cents per Seventy governments around the world have already adopted carbon pric- kilowatt-hour of electricity — could ing schemes. It is time for the United simultaneously reduce U.S. car- bon emissions by 8.5 percent and States to join them. It is not only a save the economy $4.5 billion per good idea, it is now feasible. In the past month, there has been year, even ignoring environmental a convergence of events that all point benefits. toward the potential for a U.S. car- The key to realizing those sav- ings, however, is that Congress must bon tax. KENNETH simultaneously cut the more distor- In October, the Intergovernmental RICHARDS tionary income taxes. Panel on Climate Change published To offset the potentially regres- a report indicating that the expected sive nature of a carbon tax — the damages associated with 2.0 degrees fact that it is likely to take a disproportion- Celsius warming are much higher than at 1.5 degrees — marine fisheries losses would dou- ate amount of low-income household bud- ble, sea levels would rise an extra two inches gets — the tax cuts could be supplemented by tax credits, or even payments, to those and human exposure to extreme heat would households. double. This adds to the sense of urgency to To succeed, however, our representatives mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Leading up to the 2018 midterm elections, in Washington will need to first design a sys- tem that delivers both economic and environ- Republicans called for a second round of tax mental benefits. cuts. With criticism over the massive deficits That will take discipline, resisting efforts associated with the 2017 tax cuts, however, to carve out tax exemptions and earmark the they should be cautious about any move that revenue. And, because the positive effects further exacerbates that imbalance. And of course, now that the Democrats of a carbon tax are less direct than subsidies have regained control of the U.S. House of or dividends, Congress and the White House Representatives, they should be looking for will need to carefully explain to the voters initiatives that all our leaders in Washington why the carbon tax makes sense. can support. If they succeed, a move to carbon taxes Enter carbon taxes. To see why car- leaves room for both parties to claim victory. bon taxes make sense for a broad range of The Democrats can point to the environ- mental protection and support for renew- informed politicians let’s start with two able energy that are inherent in a carbon tax. important observations. Republicans can claim credit for improving First, price signals are key to enabling markets to allocate resources efficiently. the efficiency of the federal tax system. Both Taxes on capital and income distort price sig- sides can show that they are able to work nals in markets, leading to inefficient use of together to find win-win opportunities. resources. Kenneth Richards is a professor of environ- mental economics, law and policy at Indiana This means that the cost to society of put- University. He is also a consultant at Gnarly ting a dollar of money in the government treasury can be much more than a dollar. Tree Sustainability Institute, where he works Second, in the United States, a tax on car- with national governments, international bon would be less distortionary than a tax on agencies and businesses on sustainability and environmental policy issues. labor or capital. CON: US already leads the world in reducing emissions T he U.S. natural gas and oil industry One result: EPA data show that natural is meeting the climate challenge gas system methane emissions decreased head-on, investing in high-tech 16.3 percent while natural gas production jumped more than 51 percent between 1990 innovation, efficiency improvements and and 2015. cleaner fuels. The energy industry formed The Envi- The U.S. leads the world in reducing ronmental Partnership last year to build on greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions in the United States have plunged that progress through collaboration and tar- geted actions including repairing leaks and to their lowest level in a generation, while replacing or retrofitting equipment. More CO2 emissions around the globe have risen than 50 of the nation’s oil and gas producers 50 percent since 1990. have joined so far. As the American Enterprise Institute The oil and natural gas industry has reported, 2017 marked the ninth time this century we’re reduced emissions more than worked with regulators in support of smart regulations. The most effective reg- any other nation. ulations share two characteristics. How did we do it? Increased One, they recognize existing use of natural gas in power gen- eration is the single biggest fac- success and harness, not hinder, tor. With technological advances the innovations responsible. Two, unlocking previously inaccessible they’re based on sound science. In the case of energy, that means natural gas reserves, the affordable, acknowledging that natural gas and reliable fuel has become the lead- KYLE ing source for electricity generation oil will supply an estimated 64 per- ISAKOWER cent of the energy the U.S. uses in — reducing carbon emissions to 2050, even under optimistic scenar- levels not seen since 1992. ios for renewables, according to the It’s not just carbon. The com- bined emissions of six key air pollutants Energy Information Administration. dropped 73 percent between 1970 and Any regulatory policy not based on that 2017 even while GDP soared 262 percent reality risks raising consumer costs and jeopardizing U.S. energy security. Given the and energy consumption rose 44 percent signals from House Democrats that envi- increased. ronmental regulations will be a focus when Tailpipe emissions have plunged thanks they take control in the new Congress next to advances in clean fuels and vehicle tech- nology. New cars, trucks, SUVs and heavy- year, those are important facts to keep in duty trucks and buses run about 99 per- mind. cent cleaner than models produced in 1970, As a recent American president noted: according to the EPA helping reduce pollu- “The all-of-the-above energy strategy I tion even as vehicle miles traveled nearly announced a few years ago is working, and tripled. today, America is closer to energy indepen- dence than we’ve been in decades.” It’s important to recognize this success That was President Barack Obama, — not as a victory lap, but as a roadmap. If we draw the right conclusions, we can build speaking in 2014, and he added that natu- ral gas “can power our economy with less on our progress. of the carbon pollution that causes climate For starters, the trend lines convincingly show that energy development and environ- change.” mental progress are not mutually exclusive. The same formula that worked then — Key emissions have dropped as oil and nat- an “all-of-the-above” approach bolstered by ural gas production has skyrocketed, gener- natural gas and innovation — is still work- ating a slew of economic benefits. ing to reduce emissions without sacrificing If there’s a common thread in the jobs and affordable energy. We have a road promising emissions reduction data, it’s map to success. innovation. By following it, the United States can The oil and natural gas industry has continue its remarkable streak: breaking invested an estimated $339 billion from records in both energy production and emis- sions reduction. 1990 — 2016 toward improving the envi- ronmental performance of its products, Kyle Isakower serves as vice president facilities and operations — $1,045 for every for regulatory and economic policy at the man, woman and child in the United States. American Petroleum Institute.
