New economic study shows carbon tax refunded to households would create jobs

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As recent reports on the impact of climate change underscore the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a new study finds that a tax on carbon can reduce those emissions while also adding jobs to the economy.

The study, conducted by Regional Economic Models, Inc., examined a tax on the carbon-dioxide content of fossil fuels. The tax would start at $10 per ton, increasing at $10 per ton each year. Revenue from the tax would be returned to households in equal shares as direct payments. Under this approach, the REMI study found that recycling the revenue back into the economy would add 2.1 million jobs over ten years. Improvements in air quality would save 13,000 lives a year. Emissions would decline by 33 percent.

"Detractors have said that a carbon tax will kill jobs," said Mark Reynolds, executive director of Citizens Climate Lobby, which commissioned the study. "The REMI study turns that assumption on its head."

Last month, the National Climate Assessment reported that the impact of climate change is already being felt across the nation in the form of severe drought, rising sea levels, extreme weather, wildfires and heat waves. To reduce future risk from climate change, the Obama administration last week unveiled new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency limiting carbon emissions from power plants.

"If Republicans don't want more EPA regulations, their best recourse is to deliver a revenue-neutral carbon tax, which is supported by conservatives from George Shultz to Greg Mankiw," said Reynolds. "With the REMI study showing a carbon tax that returns revenue to households will add millions of jobs, this is the option everyone can embrace."

Since 1980, Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) has provided economic impact studies for governmental and private-sector clients including the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), consulting firms Booz Allen Hamilton and Ernst & Young, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

Media briefing on REMI report 1 p.m. EDT June 9: Details here:
http://citizensclimatelobby.org/media-advisory-remi-report/
A copy of the REMI study can be downloaded here: http://citizensclimatelobby.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/REMI-carbon-tax-report-62141.pdf
3-page summary of report from CCL Legislative Director Danny Richter: http://citizensclimatelobby.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/REMI-National-SUMMARY.pdf
REMI author Scott Nystrom available at [email protected], (617) 967-0571

CITIZENS' CLIMATE LOBBY

SOURCE Citizens Climate Lobby