Top climatologist calls for $1-$10 tax on gallon of gas

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

The nation's top climatologist and NASA's former chief climate scientist is pushing the administration to tax carbon emissions about $600 billion a year, a "fee" that would boost gas prices by about $1 a gallon immediately.

And according to James Hansen's plan, the fee of $10 per ton of carbon dioxide that will result in $600 billion collected would jump another $10 every year for 10 years, raising the final fee to $100 per ton, raising trillions of dollars over time and possibly raising the gas tax with it.

"It would be a fee for carbon dioxide emissions proportional to the amount of carbon in the fossil fuel. A suggested starting amount is $10 per ton of carbon dioxide for the first year, and this would go up $10 a ton per year, so at the end of 10 years it would be $100 a ton. That would add a cost to fossil fuels: for gasoline, equivalent to about $1 a gallon," he said.

Sign Up for the Paul Bedard newsletter!

But, said the recently retired NASA executive, the public would see a potential payoff in more than just cleaner air. He proposes that "legal residents" share in the windfall.