NowPublic: North America's First Carbon Tax - Yay or Nay?

The first regional carbon tax in North America has been implemented in British Columbia, Canada.  No doubt, this will leave many left scratching their heads, and asking themselves, "What the hell is a carbon tax, anyways?"  I'm curious whether wikipedia's "Carbon tax" page will set its server aflame today.

What's a Carbon Tax?
It is what it is - a tax on products that emits carbon dioxide.  I think its pretty intuitive to think that such a tax might achieve two things:

• Lowered emissions through a change in consumer habits (i.e. hitting the consumer in the pocketbook will stir them to be greener citizens)
• Money obtained through such a tax will help develop greener technologies

There are a number of excellent resources on the net (see list below) on carbon taxes. According to the CBC, environmentalists in favor of a carbon tax believe that changing habits and our perception of fossil fuel consumption, by any means necessary, is of paramount importance in mitigating climate change.

Of course, it isn't all hunky dory.  Although revunue obtained from such taxes could be used to help mitigate the effects of carbon emissions, the question whether they would be is a matter of contention (i.e. the money could be used spent on setting up a giant, beaurocratic infrastructure instead).

Mark Jaccard, professor at Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, BC), recently wrote to the Vancouver Sun regarding BC's climate change policy.  I think he puts the confusion of any such tax among the public into clear light...

What Are Our Other Options?
"Cap and trading" has become popular among many government types.  From the UNFCCC:

So, those who meet an internationally agreed upon limit (the "cap" in "cap and trade") of carbon emissions can sell extra credits obtained from being good little carbon emitting countries.  The incentive, then, is that countries will be able to make money from reducing carbon emissions.  Therefore, as more countries opt to make money from carbon emissions, the overall global CO2 emissions should decrease over time. Of course, the cap will have to be lowered once supply is in excess of demand to make this a feasible option.

The primary criticisms of such a scheme focus on setting up and regulating such a program (How do you ensure countries play along?). Furthermore, setting up a regulatory and validation mechanism to ensure that the carbon credits being sold by private companies are legit seems daunting. 

Concluding remarks

What are your thoughts NowPublicans? Some European countries adopted carbon taxes a decade ago, and are still alive and kicking.  Is it such a bad thing to set up a provincial commission promoting green and sustainable living with carbon tax revenue?

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Useful links:

Carbon Taxes

• Wiki-fied
• BBC: Time To Tax The Carbon Dodgers
• CBC - The Carbon Tax: The Pros and Cons of a Tax on Fossil Fuels
• National Post - Canadian Government Rejects Carbon Tax
• Green Party of Canada Carbon Tax FAQ
• SFU’s Mark Jaccard Comments for Vancouver Sun

Carbon Credit Trade

• Wiki-foed
• UN’s “The Carbon Market”
• Herald Tribune - Carbon trading: where greed is green
• BBC Business - Q&A: The Carbon Trade
• European Carbon Credit Exchange
• International Emissions Trading Association