Bloomberg Climate Funny: “Let’s hope … China will follow the moral example of the U.S.”

Bloomberg has noticed China isn’t exactly onboard with the idea of carbon taxes and emissions reduction, but they are hoping China will follow the USA’s “moral example”.

Carbon Taxes Won’t Do Enough to Slow Global Warming
They can help, but the real solution is a shift to green energy.

By Noah Smith
25 September 2019, 21:30 GMT+10

With crowds taking to the streets to call for action on climate change and activists haranguing the United Nations, the issue of global warming is once again front and center. The equivocation of former years seems belatedly to be giving way to a general realization that something must be done. The effort will be sweeping and global, and starting now is better than starting later.

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Many economists believe they have an elegant and simple way to do this: a carbon tax. Earlier this year, a large group of economists from across the ideological spectrum issued a statement calling for a tax on atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, with the proceeds paid out to all Americans in the form of a dividend. For years, surveys of top economists have foundstrong support for such a policy:

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Carbon taxes have one more big defect – warming is global, but the taxes are not. The U.S. emits a lot of carbon per person, but in total terms it’s a modest and shrinking slice of global emissions:

Let’s hope developing countries such as China will follow the moral example of the U.S. and implement their own stringent carbon taxes. But there’s no guarantee they will. Developing countries’ top priority is to build middle-class wealth and alleviate poverty, and any tax that threatens their growth will be a non-starter. In a troubling twist, by reducing demand for oil and other internationally traded fossil fuels, a U.S. carbon tax could lower the price of these fuels for China and other countries, slowing their transition to renewables.

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Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-09-25/carbon-taxes-won-t-do-enough-to-slow-global-warming