Overview

The threats posed by global climate change are widely recognized and carbon emmissions are the major source of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels causes long-lasting, pervasive damages, costly to those of us alive today and even more to our children and our children's children. The United States is the second largest carbon emitting country in the world and should play a key role in global efforts to reduce emissions. Paying for Pollution incisively examines the very real costs-economic and social-of climate change and the challenges of concerted action to reduce future losses due to damages of higher temperatures and more extreme weather. Gilbert E. Metcalf argues that there is a convergence of social, economic, environmental, and political forces that provides an opening for a new approach to climate policy, one based on market principles that can appeal to politicians across the political spectrum. After all, markets work best when the price of a good reflects all its costs. Metcalf suggests that a thoughtfully and politically sensitive designed carbon tax could also contribute to an improved tax system, something desired by Republican and Democratic politicians alike. That is, a carbon tax increases fiscal flexibility by providing new revenues to finance reforms to the income tax that improve the fairness of the tax code and contribute to economic growth. Metcalf compares the benefits of a carbon tax to other potential policies, such as cap and trade, to reduce the threats of climate change. None, he shows, are as effective, efficient, and fair as a carbon tax.

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9780190694227

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Putting a price on carbon is the closest thing there is to a panacea to deal with global climate change. Gilbert Metcalf makes the case in this eloquent and compelling book. -N. Gregory Mankiw, Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics, Harvard University Paying for Pollution: Why a Carbon Tax is Good for America is a gem - clear, accessible, filled with practical examples and devoid of polemics. It covers everything you need to know, offers new insights even for the experts, and removes the mysteries for those who just wonder what all the fuss is about. A must-read for skeptics and advocates alike. -Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum Gilbert Metcalf lays out the case for a carbon tax in clear, compelling, and non-partisan terms. Paying for Pollution should be required reading in Washington, D.C., and, indeed, in capitals around the world. -Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction and New Yorker staff writer A forceful, accessible, and convincing account of how to maximize the advantage of carbon pricing as the key tool we use to reduce the impacts of climate change. -Richard Newell, President and CEO of Resources for the Future

""Putting a price on carbon is the closest thing there is to a panacea to deal with global climate change. Gilbert Metcalf makes the case in this eloquent and compelling book."" -N. Gregory Mankiw, Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics, Harvard University ""Paying for Pollution: Why a Carbon Tax is Good for America is a gem - clear, accessible, filled with practical examples and devoid of polemics. It covers everything you need to know, offers new insights even for the experts, and removes the mysteries for those who just wonder what all the fuss is about. A must-read for skeptics and advocates alike.""-Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum ""Gilbert Metcalf lays out the case for a carbon tax in clear, compelling, and non-partisan terms. Paying for Pollution should be required reading in Washington, D.C., and, indeed, in capitals around the world.""-Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction and New Yorker staff writer ""A forceful, accessible, and convincing account of how to maximize the advantage of carbon pricing as the key tool we use to reduce the impacts of climate change."" -Richard Newell, President and CEO of Resources for the Future

Author Information

Gilbert E. Metcalf is the John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service and Professor of Economics at Tufts University. In addition, he is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a University Fellow at Resources for the Future. In 2011-2012, Metcalf served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment and Energy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

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