Exxonmobil Ceo Backs Carbon Tax Over Cap-and-trade

摘要

When it comes to a nationwide emissions reduction policy, a carbon tax is the more realistic, market-friendly alternative to a cap-and-trade regime, ExxonMobil President and CEO Rex Tillerman declared in a Jan. 8 speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Tillerman, who touted ExxonMobil's $1.5 billion in investments to energy efficiency and new energy solutions, said a cap-and-trade system could add unnecessary volatility to the already struggling U.S. economy. "This new 'Wall Street' of emissions brokers will take the emphasis away from the goal of reducing carbon emissions and focus its attention on trading on price volatility," Tillerson asserted. "For businesses and consumers, these market gatekeepers and resultant price swings add cost and they create uncertainty." Tillerson joked that while "as a businessman it is hard to speak favorably about any new tax," a tax on carbon emissions would be a more direct, transparent, and effective way to curb dangerous greenhouse gases and incentivize business to fund and research new, clean energy alternatives.