Earth Equity News

The Wesleyan Conference: Seeking a Meaningful Price on Carbon. By Andrew Revkin, NYTimes, 12/22/10. “One month ago, Wesleyan University hosted a weekend conference called ‘Pricing Carbon.’ It was a revival meeting of sorts, bringing together about 500 economists, campaigners, scientists, students and lawmakers seeking, despite recent setbacks, to apply the age-old ‘polluter pays’ principle to carbon. A prime goal of many attendees, from carbon campaigners Charles Komanoff and Peter Barnes to James Hansen of NASA, was to explore various strategies for creating a carbon tax that American consumers could accept.

“In reviewing many of the presentations, which are nearly all archived online, it’s clear that the death of a federal cap-and-trade system for curbing emissions is seen as a potential opening by proponents of a more direct approach to making polluting energy choices costly while buffering the impact on consumers. Many presenters acknowledged the daunting political hurdles in Washington, which were most vividly described by Representative Bob Inglis, a Republican of South Carolina who was defeated in his primary race largely, he said, over his stance on global warming and the need for a carbon tax.”