Carbon tax - Definition

A carbon tax is any of several proposed taxes on energy sources which emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The purpose of the tax is both financial and environmental. A carbon tax is essentially an effluent (pollution) tax as proposed by numerous economists. It can be approximated by taxes on gasoline and on certain types of energy production. As President of the United States, Bill Clinton proposed a BTU tax that was not adopted.

The difficulty in determining the appropriate level of the tax is in part due to the uncertainty the economic damage associated with an additional unit of carbon being burned (or CO2 being emitted) and the theory of global warming in general.

Such a tax could finance international organizations such as the United Nations, or be used to redistribute income from wealthy nations to poor nations. It can also further environmental goals such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Special types of carbon taxes include:

• optimal carbon tax
• value-at-risk carbon tax

See also

• gasoline tax
• tax horsepower
• Kyoto protocol

External links

• Global taxes (http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/glotax/) -- analysis by Global Policy Forum