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Carbon Taxes: A Review of Experience and Policy Design Considerations

Journal Article · · Climate Policy
State and local governments in the USA are evaluating a wide range of policies to reduce carbon emissions, including carbon taxes, which have existed internationally for nearly 20 years. In this article, existing carbon tax policies, both internationally and in the USA, are reviewed, and carbon policy design and effectiveness are analysed. Design considerations include which sectors to tax, where to set the tax rate, how to use tax revenues, what the impact will be on consumers, and how to ensure that emissions reduction goals are achieved. Emissions reductions that are due to carbon taxes can be difficult to measure, although some jurisdictions quantify reductions in overall emissions, others examine impacts that are due to programmes funded by carbon tax revenues.
Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1491723
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-6A2-49338
Journal Information:
Climate Policy, Journal Name: Climate Policy Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 11; ISSN 1469-3062
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (6)

European environmental taxes and charges: recent experience, issues and trends journal October 1999
Global Environmental Regulation: Instrument Choice in Legal Context journal January 1999
Fiscal Interactions and the Case for Carbon Taxes Over Grandfathered Carbon Permits journal September 2003
Analysis of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Tax Proposals report May 2008
Environmental taxation and the double dividend: A reader's guide journal August 1995
To Tax or Not to Tax: Alternative Approaches to Slowing Global Warming journal January 2007

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