Liberal Economists Say $4 Trillion Tax Is Needed To Stop Global Warming

A group of 14 economists published a report Tuesday claiming that the world needs a $4 trillion tax on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to stop global warming. The study suggests that a tax should be levied on fossil fuel use, taxing between $50 to $100 per ton of CO2 emitted. Proceeds could support green energy, given out as aid to poor countries, or be redistributed back to the population. The World Bank and French government financed the study. Lord Nicholas Stern co-authored the report, having written a 2006 report that served as the basis of U.K. climate policy. Stern’s recommended tax would cost more than the total economic output of the U.K. or Germany. “The revenue can be used to foster growth in an equitable way, by returning the revenue as household rebates, supporting poorer sections of the population, managing transitional changes, investing in low-carbon infrastructure, and fostering technological change,” reads the report. “Ensuring revenue neutrality via transfers and reductions in other taxes could be a policy option.”...more