11-09-2016, 10:15 PM
Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said Wednesday the company backs a price on carbon and believes climate change brings “real” risks that require “serious” action. Speaking at the Oil & Money conference in London, Tillerson also noted that the Paris climate accord set to kick in this November is unlikely to limit near-term consumption of oil and gas, Climate Central reported. “We have long used a proxy cost of carbon… there’s a range depending on the country, depending on the tax that we think would be appropriate,” he said. “We’re trying to influence and inform people and business on the choices they make.”
Exxon boss: climate change is ‘real’ and ‘serious’
So we have the Exxon CEO (and basically all climate scientist) warning about climate change but the new president argues that it's a hoax brought about by the Chinese to gain advantage. To whom is he going to listen? To Greg:
Gregory Mankiw is a Harvard professor, one of the most influential economists in the world, and a Republican. He served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under President George W. Bush, and advised both the 2008 and 2012 Mitt Romney campaigns for president. And he thinks the US needs a carbon tax. In an interview with National Geographic — conducted, incidentally, by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who stepped into the role of science reporter for "Before the Flood" — Mankiw explained why he believes a carbon tax is the best option for curbing US emissions. A "carbon tax" is actually a series of taxes that increases the cost of activities like burning coal or buying gasoline that pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. "You want to tax bad activities that have negative effects on other people in society," he said. "We raised the price of cigarettes by putting a tax on cigarettes, people then consume fewer cigarettes."
Harvard professor Gregory Mankiw: Carbon tax is a good idea - Business Insider