Commentary by Robert Colman

With the passing of the landmark climate change bill in the House last week, you would think that the debate over the choice between a carbon tax and a cap-and-trade system would be dead and buried, but apparently not. Today, former domestic policy advisor to Vice President Al Gore and U.S. Climate Task Force (CTF) co-founder Dr. Elaine C. Kamarck unveiled a new report that examines lessons learned from past efforts to legislate on climate change and how those precedents can be applied to help pass an emissions policy in the 111th Congress. She falls into the carbon tax camp.

In a press statement today she noted, "Many legislators are pushing for a U.S. cap-and-trade system. Though I share their strong resolve to address the risks of climate change, evidence shows that the problems implementing carbon trading measures are so complex that they may not allow Americans to meet our 'green' goals.

"The bottom line is we need to put a price on carbon," she continued. "Using lessons learned from our past efforts to legislate on climate change, my new paper demonstrates how a carbon tax-shift would accomplish that goal. In addition to rebating its revenues back to the people in ways that shift the burden of taxation from employment to pollution, a carbon tax has the advantage of being simple, transparent and easy to administer."

I think that the debate between the two concepts is a rather specious one. A cap-and-trade system seems likely to be created in the U.S., and here in Canada, so I'm not sure it's worth tackling the issue once more. However, I also believe that there's a place for a carbon tax-shift, like that introduced in B.C. The challenge is measuring the impact of such a shift, and how long such a shift can last. Taxes being the inevitable burden that they are, how long does one complain before simply grinning and bearing it? Like gas prices, the initial shock is one thing, but after that, you adapt.

To read Kamarck's report, visit www.climatetaskforce.org/.

Robert Colman (rcolman@clbmedia.ca) is editor of Green Business.

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