I'm returning now to Terence Corcoran's op-ed (May 31, 2008) entitled "The carbon experiment". Here again is his concluding paragraph which I quote in its entirety:
So carbon tax programs are an experiment — although one that has already been tried. It imposes central planning on an economy based on carbon emissions rather than economic growth and welfare. It didn’t work for the economy, it won’t work for carbon.
Which is the experiment: a carbon tax, or the absence of a carbon tax and the resulting negative externality (polluting for free, a low price for fossil fuels) that, over the years, has gotten us into trouble with climate change and the geopolitical threats associated with dependence on oil?
I'd say we have been doing a grand planetary experiment to see if it's okay to subsidize fossil fuel use by allowing people to pollute for free.
I think we have the answer. Let's stop.
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