Dave Roberts is right. Environmentalists and green energy boosters will be disappointed when whatever resolution comes of the fiscal slope does not include a carbon tax. This was clear well before Grover Norquist flipped on the idea within 24 hours, but cemented by that action. Conservative wonks outside of government may give their endorsement, but [...]

My original working assumption on the subject of a carbon tax, basically a levy on fossil fuel usage, working its way into the fiscal cliff negotiations was that I appreciated the thought, but doubted the reality. It’s not that a carbon tax wouldn’t raise revenue and also contribute in a smart way to reducing greenhouse [...]

Every time I write about climate change, it’s all I can do not to sigh and think about how doomed we are. Climate change represents one of the most impossible problems to solve purely for political reasons. It’s not a technological deficiency; even if it were, we can clear that hurdle. But this is an [...]

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that global carbon emissions set a record in 2010, rebounding from the recession to exceed 2008 levels. The EPA found in April that US carbon emissions dipped in 2009, mirroring the rest of the world. But though the recession has recovered in 2010 slowly in the industrialized world, and [...]