On a Carbon Tax
One of my pro-nuke people writes: Clean power, like nuclear, is a “public good”, just like sanitation, clean water, etc. — except in MI, we don’t defile a public good because of short-term economics. If we were seriously concerned with our descendants’ environment, we’d be taxing C at ~$150/ton and paying nukes credits. A whole new world based on reality.
I definitely agree that government needs to move its subsidies from social evils to social goods. I can’t believe I just typed so obvious an assertion. It makes me angry; are we the only people who get this?
Here’s the issue with a carbon tax: it needs to apply equally to everyone, especially to the US, China and India. To the degree it doesn’t, its only effect is to move energy-intensive processes from the US to Asia. We lose jobs, and the environment, paradoxically, takes a hit, since energy is far dirtier there.
Another way of saying the same thing: A solution that doesn’t address Asia’s problem isn’t really a solution at all.