Jerry Taylor of Cato has an excellent summary of what the scientific literature tells us about the social cost of carbon emissions, drawing on the comprehensive but sometimes opaque work of Richard Tol. His conclusion:

So what does Tol 2008 tell us about the social cost of carbon emissions (assuming that the underlying science from the IPCC is correct)? Given our skepticism about the underlying logic of discount rates of 1% or less, any number between $3 per ton and $24 per…

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A major part in the rebranding of the British Conservative Party following a traumatic election defeat (sound familiar?) in 2005 was a turn to environmentalism. Part of this was a plan to introduce “green taxes,” theoretically shifting the focus of taxation from labor (taxing a ‘good’) to carbon production (taxing a ‘bad.’) This morning, however, The Guardian confirms what many have been saying for some time; the Tories have decided

To downgrade green taxes in response to growing unease that these could…

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