Millions of people worldwide are either indifferent to a carbon tax or opposed. If citizens were motivated by potential carbon dividends, maybe politicians would finally take action on climate change.
Far from being wiped off the map as was once predicted, Whyalla is coming back in an unlikely way, as potentially Australia’s biggest steel producer powered almost entirely by renewable energy.
Matthew E. Kahn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
George H.W. Bush, who pledged to be ‘the environmental president,’ took a market-based approach to pollution control that helped clear the air. Now some experts think it could work on climate change.
Exxon Mobil has a clear motive to back a new plan to tax carbon with its clout and money. And a carbon tax that is high enough to work might prove politically impossible to enact.
Environmentalists claimed victory when a court ruling put the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on hold. But delaying or cancelling the project would also impact Canada’s climate change strategy.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has abandoned the emissions-reduction component of his signature energy policy, in the latest chapter of a brutal decade-long saga for Australian climate policy.
Ontario and Saskatchewan are vociferously fighting the federal government’s carbon tax efforts. But rather than back down, Ottawa should embrace a simple, fair and transparent “carbon dividend.”
The latest annual survey from the Lowy Institute shows that 59% of Australians support strong climate action, and 84% want the government to embrace renewable energy even if it’s more expensive.
Canada has committed to cutting GHG emissions 30 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels. Can Canada’s oil capital lead the charge? New research shows it’s within reach with bold actions on several fronts.
Barnaby Joyce had a long history of opposing climate action. His successor Michael McCormack seems to think the same way, despite climate being a growing threat to the Nationals’ rural voters.
Australia’s flagship climate policy, has spent more than $2 billion on emissions reductions, yet big businesses could wipe all this out. Time to resurrect the idea of a simple carbon tax.