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Carbon causes collateral damage to a large group of people. Damage to others should be compensated for. Taxation is a good way to collect compensation for damages to a large group of people
it's important to consider the effect this sort of tax can have on poor individuals and families who are dependent on an industry or even a single vehicle which can have high carbon emissions (relatively).
Taxation is a poor enforcement method. It has a disproportionately low effect on large wealth holders, who use varied instruments to evade it. Lethal levels of carbon emission come from large corporations, which can easily evade taxes. You cannot assume taxation can depend on sufficient regulation.
Slemrod & Yitzhaki: "Chapter 22: TAX AVOIDANCE, EVASION, AND ADMINISTRATION" Handbook of Public Economics, 2002. http://eml.berkeley.edu//~saez/course/Slemrod,Yitzhaki%20PE%20Handbook%20chapter.pdf Union of Concerned Scientists, USA: "Largest Producers of Industrial Carbon Emissions", 2013.
Carbon is not the only nor the strongest greenhouse gas. Methane and the like would also need to be taxed under such a scheme, or you would just set up more perverse incentives. Perhaps a "carbon emission equivalence" tax.
This idea sounds good on paper; however, it's impossible to effectively enforce it.
How much Carbon would be produced just to maintain this tax?
Carbon emissions from beaurocracy is hard for a layman (or anyone) to answer. I expect it will be a negligible quantity. olafurtorfi
If carbon emissions is a byproduct of making money, wouldn't this tax then turn carbon emissions into a money making source, and then take away incentive to stop carbon emissions.
It would be hard and expensive to regulate it, so doing it wouldn't benefit the Gov in short-term period.
While the Earth should be monitored an protected, taxing carbon emissions restricts the citizen's rights to choose, even if the choice is not wise
So does that mean you can be taxed for breathing, since we breath out Carbon dioxide.
There are too many factors of climate change than just carbon to be taxed on. The earths rotational axis precession has a great effect on the planets weather and climate significantly.