New York State Carbon Tax as Preventative Measure against Climate Change
NEW PALTZ, N.Y., March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Network for Sustainable Financial Markets and Citizens' Climate Lobby of New York City have joined forces to promote a carbon tax for New York State. The tax would reduce incentives for purchasing fossil fuels and increase incentives for buying renewable energy. Revenues could be returned to consumers and/or used for investment in renewable energy.
Leading the effort to promote a carbon tax are Sara Hsu, Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and Adrienne Perovich, from the Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) of New York City. The idea for implementing a carbon tax in New York State grew out of an economics class project at the State University of New York at New Paltz. "My students believed that a carbon tax was the best way to provide real incentives for curbing pollution. They did research on carbon taxes around the world and found that not only did these taxes reduce carbon emissions, but that they also had a neutral effect on the economy," says Dr. Hsu. Adrienne Perovich, founder of the New York City chapter of CCL, is mobilizing CCL's grassroots energy to share information about the effort with New York State's political leadership. "The science around climate change is conclusive- if we want to preserve our standard of living for future generations, we need to act now to reduce CO2 emissions. The first step is holding our elected officials accountable and letting them know we want strong, economically sound legislation now," says Perovich.
The New York State carbon tax would place a tax on fossil fuels by carbon content. For example, a $20 carbon tax per metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted, levied on gasoline would result in an extra 17.5 cents. One gallon of gas, if $3.00, would cost $3.17 with the tax, less than 6% of the price. "We want to protect low income households by refunding the tax to them, but the additional proceeds could be used for tax breaks or infrastructure and energy investment," says Hsu. A higher price on fossil fuels helps to level the playing field between renewable and fossil fuel energy, and acts as a preventative measure against climate change, witnessed in New York state by extreme weather events such as Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Sandy, and the last two winters.
Media contact: Sara Hsu, [email protected] or (845) 257-2945
SOURCE Network for Sustainable Financial Markets
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