Study shows carbon tax may not make big dent in driving habits
Articles — By forcechange on October 8, 2008 12:29 pm
Environmental Capital notes that the anticipated tax on carbon emissions in the US will do little to curb emissions from cars. This is because, as a new study by the Congressional Budget Office finds, pricing carbon at even $28 a ton, which is substantially higher than carbon currently costs U.S. but lower than the approximately $30 a ton in Europe, would only raise gas prices by 25 cents per gallon over 4 years. This is not an insignificant amount of money. However, given that US gas prices increased by over 100% in the last few years and overall driving rates decreased only minimally, it is unlikely that 25 cents more per gallon will make a major dent in our driving/emissions.
This does not mean a carbon tax would be ineffective though, since it will apply far beyond just petroleum, to include all types of energy generation.
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