carbon tax the best way to reduce GHG emissions

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    What is a green tax shift?

    https://www.ozpolitic.com/green-tax-shift/green-tax-shift.html


    A Green Tax Shift is a way to address global warming, create jobs, save the environment, strengthen our economy and reduce our dependence on middle eastern oil, all at the same time. For greenhouse emissions, it could involve reducing income tax for low income earners and increasing the tax on coal (=electricity), oil, gas, beef, milk and cement. The increase in tax on each product would depend on the amount of greenhouse emissions from it. The decrease in income tax would be set so that government revenue was unchanged. Income tax at the low end would be the best option for the decrease because it would result in the least change in the distribution of wealth and would create more jobs. Petrol will not bear the brunt of the price increases because it causes only a small fraction of our greenhouse emissions.

    This method of reducing greenhouse emissions is preferred by economists. It is the least costly way to reduce carbon emissions. If you consider the negative impacts of global warming to have real economic value (ie, would people pay to get rid of them?) then it will actually strengthen the economy. This is because not charging companies for the right to pollute is effectively subsidising pollution. A green tax shift reduces a complex decision with multiple issues to consider to a simple decision based on one factor alone - cost. It ensures that each member of a society places equal weight on carbon emissions in purchasing decisions (at the very least - they can still place a higher weight on emissions). This is how a green tax shift ensures that the easiest available options for reducing emissions are chosen first.
 
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