Foreign Policy Blogs

World Poll Shows Support for Green Taxes

The BBC has released a poll showing that people " are ready to make personal sacrifices , including paying more for their energy , to help address climate change."  Support for carbon taxes (see previous post below) is very high when it's framed that the money would go to help further renewable energy and energy efficiency programs.  Support is also quite high when the scenario becomes using the carbon tax proceeds to offset other taxes.  This is precisely the approach being promulgated by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and many economists.   

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See more on this at the BBC and at World Public Opinion.

Meanwhile, for a nice summary of the issues involved in the carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade debate, go to The Real Climate Debate: To Cap or to Tax? from the "NY Times" the other day. 

Presidential Race , Two of the leading Democratic presidential candidates made their voices heard this week, with John Edwards calling global warming a "moral test" and Hillary Clinton saying:  "Tackling the energy crisis is the calling of our time. And when I’m president, it will be the calling of our nation."  See this from AP on Edwards's speech and see the Edwards website for more.  See the story here on Clinton's plan from the "Des Moines Register" as well as her speech from the campaign website.

See also this comprehensive piece, Climate Is a Risky Issue for Democrats, from today's "Washington Post."

 

Author

Bill Hewitt

Bill Hewitt has been an environmental activist and professional for nearly 25 years. He was deeply involved in the battle to curtail acid rain, and was also a Sierra Club leader in New York City. He spent 11 years in public affairs for the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, and worked on environmental issues for two NYC mayoral campaigns and a presidential campaign. He is a writer and editor and is the principal of Hewitt Communications. He has an M.S. in international affairs, has taught political science at Pace University, and has graduate and continuing education classes on climate change, sustainability, and energy and the environment at The Center for Global Affairs at NYU. His book, "A Newer World - Politics, Money, Technology, and What’s Really Being Done to Solve the Climate Crisis," will be out from the University Press of New England in December.



Areas of Focus:
the policy, politics, science and economics of environmental protection, sustainability, energy and climate change

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