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Implementing A Transparent And Equitable Tax On Carbon Emissions Essay

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Across 800,000 years of data of Earth’s atmosphere, carbon dioxide levels at record highs, and being added daily, have already begun disrupting established climate patterns and damaging ecosystems upon which nearly all living things depend (CTC). Tremendous and rapid reductions of carbon emissions in the United States, and developed nations around the world, are essential to avoid runaway climate damage and minimize severe weather events. Inundation of coastal cities and islands, infrastructure destruction, failure of agriculture and water supply, forced migrations, political upheavals, and international conflict are among the devastating and costly side effects of climate change, many of which have already begun to be seen (CTC). Enacting a transparent and equitable tax on carbon dioxide emissions is imperative to hand over a sustainable Earth and habitable climate for future generations. A robust tax on carbon would provide compelling incentives to reduce emissions and pollution through conservation, substitution, and innovation (Sutter). The carbon tax is also a crucial policy tool for achieving the “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDC’s) to which the 193 countries that signed the Paris Climate Agreement in December 2015 committed to in effort to prevent global warming from reaching two degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels (CTC).

Currently, the prices of gasoline and other fuels, as well as the products that come from them, such as electricity,
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