Exploring a weighted carbon tax policy for the United States
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Date
2016-06
Authors
Pidong, Anna
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The average American emits more carbon dioxide than a citizen from the next
top three emitting countries combined. Greenhouse gas emissions are steadily
increasing with our use of fossil fuels and social damages from carbon dioxide are not
accurately captured in fossil fuel prices. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a
carbon tax model for the United States that generates revenue equal to ten percent of
government spending. This particular model introduces three unique concepts to a
carbon tax design: individual weightings for fuels, a floor pricing concept for carbon
that determines the tax rate, and a hybrid taxation structure wherein national production
of fossil fuels will be taxed alongside regional consumption of carbon dioxide. On both
.
a national and regional scale, a weighted tax achieves more revenues and reduces
emissions faster and more effectively than a flat tax. The weighted national tax on
production is expected to raise roughly $116 billion in its first year of enactment and
reduce emissions by 82% by 2030 while the weighted regional consumption tax will
raise $13.63 billion its first year and reduce emissions by 15% by 2030 in the California
region.
Description
85 pages. A thesis presented to the Lundquist College of Business and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Science, Spring 2016.
Keywords
Accounting, Environmental Taxation, IRS, Carbon Tax, Weighted Tax, Tax Model, Fossil Fuel, Environmental Tax, Taxation