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.