PACE in WSJ: Learn from Carbon Mistakes

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal published the following Letter to the Editor from PACE Executive Director Lance Brown, written in response to the newspaper’s recent coverage of carbon taxes in Australia and the effect of those taxes on national elections.

Robert Murphy’s letter of Sept. 14 describes the expensive disaster of Australia’s carbon policy, but here in the U.S., Sens. Barbara Boxer and Bernie Sanders last year introduced legislation that would institute a federal tax on carbon emissions to the tune of $1.2 trillion over the next decade. Why not learn from Australia’s missteps?

Australia’s climate policies were devastating to its economy, with the brunt of the impact felt by working-class families. Australia’s newly elected Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s common-sense reform proposals would scrap the costly carbon tax and stop Australia from trying to address a global issue on the backs of families and businesses. The U.S. has a chance to get it right without the damage to consumers and the economy. Reasonable people can disagree about the best way forward, but Australia has clearly shown us what doesn’t work.