Michael O'Hare recommends this LA Times editorial on types of carbon taxation. They go through simple cap plans ("the simplest, and the least efficient..of all possible approaches, it would have the worst effect on the state economy"), cap-and-trade strategies ("Cap-and-trade isn't just less expensive, it has proved to be workable...the carbon-trading concept has widespread political and business support...[but] cap-and-trade creates opportunities for cheating, leads to unpredictable fluctuations in energy prices and does nothing to offset high power costs for consumers"), and carbon taxation, which they judge to be by far the best of the options on the table. The editorial is a model of serious, informed policy writing, and folks should read it.
This, incidentally, used to be exactly the sort of thing the LA Times excelled at. As O'Hare puts it, '"Print it once and print it all" used to be the LA Times tradition for news; instead of dribbling out an evolving story in daily disconnected tidbits, they would run long, coherent, interpretable stories about situations." That commitment has deteriorated over the past few years, and the paper has suffered for it. This editorial is a welcome reminder of how good The LA Times really can be.
