When former Vice President Al Gore returned to Capitol Hill last week to deliver his climate warning to Congress he dusted off one particular policy recommendation that is better left on the shelf - a tax on carbon emissions.
I don’t know how the sponsors of Terra Rossa feel about it, but taxing our way out of this problem is fundamentally wrong to me. Even if Mr. Gore proposes lowering payroll taxes to offset a new carbon tax, it would still open the door to another big-government money grab. Imposing a new carbon tax would artificially create energy winners and losers in our economy, too.
Better to rely on the private-sector for solutions to climate change. Implement a market-based framework such as cap and trade where the marketplace provides incentives for businesses and entrepreneurs to develop new clean-energy innovations that reduce CO2 emissions.
I expect Mr. Gore to support such a big-government solution to climate change. I’m surprised that some conservative columnists have embraced it. Republicans would be wise to put their faith in the power of the free market.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 26th, 2007 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Cap and Trade, Politics/Government . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
