Protecting the Poor

摘要

A favorite argument of opponents of legislation that puts a price on carbon — whether through cap-and-trade or an emissions tax — is that it will hurt the poor. By incentivizing households and businesses to reduce their climate footprints, in fact, the opposite can be true. Well-designed carbon-pricing legislation will generate enough revenue to fully offset the hit to the most vulnerable households' budgets from higher energy prices, cushion the impact for the middle class, and leave plenty to spare for other purposes. These uses include deficit reduction, tax reform, or spending for other public programs.