Why Is Al Gore Backing A Carbon Tax?
I'm just not seeing it. Al Gore recently came out in favor of a carbon tax, presumably over cap-and-trade. The two schemes are essentially in competition with each other, so supporting one often means opposing the other. And while I'm sure Al Gore would be happy to see any solution get implemented, I'm left wondering why he chose to throw his weight behind the lesser of the two.
At this point it's pretty clear that we're going to get one or the other, and which one we should end up with is the subject of intense debate. But at the moment, all signs point to cap-and-trade being the superior and more politically acceptable plan. With both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton supporting aggressive cap-and-trade plans and the Senate already debating a cap-and-trade plan of their own, it looks like we could have it if we wanted it.
But a carbon tax would be a mistake. Instead of fixing the problem at the source by directly changing industry, we'd have "personal responsibility" with a cattle prod.
