Erskine Bowles and Henry Paulson: Biden should embrace a carbon tax
Erskine Bowles served as Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 1998 and is a member of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He recently co-wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post with Henry M. Paulson Jr., former Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush. It is excerpted below.
President Biden deserves credit for his actions to date on climate change. In rejoining the Paris agreement, directing new energy standards, pushing for bold congressional action, convening world leaders and announcing dramatic emissions reduction targets, he is showing that American climate leadership is back. But there is one major climate policy arena where the United States needs to take a bold step forward: carbon pricing.
A carbon tax, which taxes carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions, is a proven means to raise large sums of much-needed revenue while lowering carbon emissions. It is supported by 67 percent of Americans, embraced by a bipartisan consensus of economists and increasingly supported by the business community.
Read the entire piece here.
Published works by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee.
