{"id":347132,"date":"2010-02-21T14:42:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-21T19:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/henry-blodget-a-simple-carbon-tax-would-cost-only-250-a-gallon-and-could-save-the-world-2010-2"},"modified":"2010-02-21T14:42:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-21T19:42:00","slug":"a-simple-carbon-tax-would-cost-only-2-50-a-gallon-and-could-save-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/347132","title":{"rendered":"A Simple Carbon Tax Would Cost Only $2.50 A Gallon And Could Save The World"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2012\"<\/p>\n

True, it is not certain<\/em> that global warming will destroy the earth.  But nothing is certain when you’re talking about climate change. <\/p>\n

The cost of doing something about that potential climate change, meanwhile, is small relative to the possible benefit.<\/p>\n

As a result, argues Robert Frank in the NYT<\/a>, we should phase in a $300\/ton carbon tax, which will result in U.S. gas prices rising by $2.60 per gallon.  The Europeans have already adapted quite nicely to gas prices that are $4 a gallon higher than they are here, so the argument that this will destroy the country seems a bit hysterical. <\/p>\n

If we do nothing, meanwhile, global temperatures seem almost certain to rise, no matter who is doing the predicting.  The consensus model at MIT, which includes the forecast of global warming denialists, shows a zero-percent chance of no temperature increase over the next century–and a 10% chance of a catastrophic 12-degree one.<\/p>\n

Given the odds that global warming will inflict serious global pain over the next century, the cost of taking action seems low. <\/p>\n

Of course, because the causes of global warming seem natural and unobjectionable, we won’t take action, especially in a country in which cheap gas has come to be viewed as a constitutional right.  As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert puts it:<\/p>\n

“If climate change were caused by gay sex, or by the practice of eating kittens, millions of protesters would be massing in the streets.”<\/p>\n

Read Robert Frank’s whole argument here ><\/a><\/p>\n

Join the conversation about this story »<\/a><\/p>\n

See Also:<\/b><\/p>\n