Hatch Questions Experts On Cap-And-Tax
Posted by: Staff in Tax Reform, Fiscal Responsibility, Energy Independence on
May 12, 2009
During a Senate Finance Committee hearing yesterday, Senator Hatch grilled economists on the impact of the Democrats' cap-and-tax scheme.
Here are a few of the questions and answers with Anne Smith, Practice Leader of Climate and Sustainability of CRA International:
Q. Do you believe that implementing a cap-and-trade program or a carbon tax would result in net job losses?
A. Yes
Q. Some climatologists believe that implementing a cap-and-trade or a program that would reduce carbon emissions by 83 percent in the year 2050 would reduce temperatures by only nine-hundredths of 1 degree Fahrenheit. Are we sacrificing million of jobs in order to reduce climate change by nine-hundredths of 1 degree?
A. The precise level of U.S. emissions will not affect climate risks in any quantifiable way if they are on a general track towards near-zero emissions. This is particularly true because global climate outcomes over the next century will be determined by controls on developing country emissions much more so than by a few percentage points of difference in U.S. emissions during the next couple of decades.
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
