Support
Former US Vice President Al Gore strongly backed a carbon tax in his book, Earth in the Balance, but this became a political liability after the Republicans attacked him as a "dangerous fanatic". In 2000, when Gore ran for president, one commentator labeled Gore's carbon tax proposal a "central planning solution" harking back to "the New Deal politics of his father."
Former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker suggested (February 6, 2007) that "it would be wiser to impose a tax on oil, for example, than to wait for the market to drive up oil prices."
Climatologist James E. Hansen has argued in support of a carbon tax. A number of businesses and business leaders also support a carbon tax. These include:
- FedEx CEO Fred Smith;
- James Owens, CEO of Caterpillar;
- and Paul Anderson, CEO and Chairman of Duke Energy.
Monica Prasad, a Northwestern University sociologist, wrote about Denmark's carbon tax in the New York Times in 2008. In her view, the Danish carbon tax served as an example of how to reduce emissions in the US. Prasad argued, however, that a critical component for Denmark's success in reducing carbon emissions from 1990–2005 was that the tax revenues from the carbon tax were dedicated to subsidies for firms to use for alternative, environmentally cleaner sources of energy.
Read more about this topic: Carbon Tax
Famous quotes containing the word support:
“There is absolutely no evidence—developmental or otherwise—to support separating twins in school as a general policy. . . . The best policy seems to be no policy at all, which means that each year, you and your children need to decide what will work best for you.”
—Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)
“[They] hired a large house as a receptacle for gentlewomen, who either had no fortunes, or so little that it would not support them. For these they made the most comfortable institution [and] provided [them] with all conveniences for rural amusements, a library, musical instruments, and implements for various works.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)
“... the outcome of the Clarence Thomas hearings and his subsequent appointment to the Supreme Court shows how misguided, narrow notions of racial solidarity that suppress dissent and critique can lead black folks to support individuals who will not protect their rights.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)