Climate Change: Expert Opinion on the Economics of Policy Options to Address Climate Change

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Government Accountability Office
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Benefit Cost Analysis Carbon Taxes Climate Change Emissions Trading Policy Making
• Publication/ Report Number:
  GAO-08-605
• Resource Type:
  Research Paper
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Government Accountability Office
• Abstract:
  Panelists identified key strengths and limitations of alternative policy approaches that should be of assistance to the Congress in weighing the potential benefits and costs of different policies for addressing climate change. Many panelists said that a cap-and-trade program would be more effective in achieving a desired level of greenhouse gas emissions because, unlike a tax, it would provide certainty that emissions wouldn't exceed a certain level. However, some of the panelists also said that taxes would be more cost-effective than a cap-and-trade program because the price of emissions would be certain and not susceptible to market fluctuations. Eight panelists therefore preferred a hybrid approach that incorporates features of both a tax and a cap-and-trade program. On average, the panelists rated cost effectiveness as the most important criterion for evaluating various policy options. Finally, panelists said an important strength of using a market-based approach is the ability for the government to raise revenue through a tax or the sale of emissions permits and to use that revenue to offset the adverse effects of the policy.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  Transportation Resilience & Vulnerability Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:e61e40a04827ad693d703a93124e473304cfb865b0e80cbae891e2fd5c302f60
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/17360/dot_17360_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.86 MB ]