In rare foray into policy, top science advisers press U.S. to adopt carbon tax

Source: The Associated Press

The influential National Academy of Sciences specifically called for a carbon tax on fossil fuels or a cap-and-trade system for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, calling global warming an urgent threat.

The academy, which advises the government on scientific matters, said the United States needs to cut the pollution that causes global warming by about 57 per cent to 83 per cent by 2050. That's close to U.S. President Barack Obama's goal.

“We really need to get started right away. It's not opinion, it's what the science tells you,” said Robert Fri, who chaired one of the three panels producing separate climate reports.

Mr. Fri was acting Environmental Protection Agency chief under president Richard Nixon and until recently on the board of American Electric Power Co., a major producer of carbon dioxide. “The country needs both a prompt and a sustained commitment to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions,” he said Wednesday.



Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/in-rare-foray-into-policy-top-science-advisers-press-us-to-adopt-carbon-tax/article1574856/

And they have to cut their bloat to do it (as opposed to billing it to the taxpayers).

surely it was one of those good never-going-to-happen issues like guns abortions and taxes that they would ride for years....but then someone actually realized that *shock* they had a good idea...well not the way they put it anyway.

This is hilarious to watch. You could find videos of people like George Allen and Jim Gilmore talking this up. They just never thought it would happen.

Of course, AP doesn't actually deliver an article that says much about carbon tax. In fact, the first sentence more or less takes back the promise of the headline.

At any rate, I think a carbon tax is a more direct way to reduce CO2 emissions; 'cap and trade' may just become more wall street casino games, I'm afraid.