WRAP UP

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
08/31/12

IN THE STATES

Implementing a tax on carbon would raise $1.5 trillion in government revenues, according to a study released by Massachusetts Institute of Technology earlier this week. Researchers from MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Climate Change argued that putting in place a $20 per ton fee on carbon emissions starting in 2013 would generate $1.5 trillion in revenue for the government over the next 10 years, a policy option that could be a particularly welcome one for members of Congress looking for some wiggle room on politically tough fiscal decisions expected to emerge in the coming months. The researchers said that a $20 price would help cut emissions 14 percent below 2006 levels by 2020 while decreasing oil imports and increasing the deployment of renewables and other low carbon electricity options. “The country faces difficult tradeoffs in getting the Federal budget deficit under control. In our analysis of a carbon tax, we find a win-win-win situation that requires no tradeoff at all. Carbon tax revenue allows cuts in other taxes, benefits the economy and reduces CO2 emissions and oil imports,” the study says.

Climate scientist Michael Mann announced his intentions to sue the conservative magazine the National Review, setting up what could potentially be a high-profile trial over climate change. Mann announced late last week he will be suing the magazine for defamation after a blog post described Mann as the person “behind the fraudulent climate change ‘hockey-stick’ graph, the very ringmaster of the tree-ring circus.” It also compared Mann to Penn State’s disgraced former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. In a statement on Mann’s Facebook page, the climate scientist’s lawyer John Williams criticized the magazine for failing to include “the fact that Dr. Mann’s research has been extensively reviewed by a number of independent parties, including the National Science Foundation, with never a suggestion of any fraud or research misconduct.” In a response entitled “Get Lost,” National Review Editor Rich Lowry said that if the lawsuit moves forward, the organization may hire a dedicated reporter to dig up dirt on Mann. He also defended his magazine’s blog post. “In common polemical usage, ‘fraudulent’ doesn’t mean honest-to-goodness criminal fraud. It means intellectually bogus and wrong. I consider Mann’s prospective lawsuit fraudulent. Uh-oh. I guess he now has another reason to sue us,” Lowry wrote.

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT

Australia and the European Union announced plans this week to eventually link their cap-and-trade systems, creating the world’s largest emissions trading scheme (ETS). Government officials from both countries announced this week that the two schemes will be fully linked by summer 2018, but that Australian emitters will be able to purchase European credits as early as 2015. The deal gives the EU market a much needed boost while affording Australian emitters the opportunity to buy cheaper credits on the European market. While the EU has had its ETS in place since 2005, Australia started its carbon tax earlier this summer. The government there has plans to transition, though, into a full cap-and-trade scheme in 2015.