Good morning.
Can the U.S. put a price on carbon emissions without imposing a tax or regulatory scheme? That seems to be the idea that President Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry is floating at COP27 talks in Egypt this week. And some major companies are interested in the concept.
Economists have long argued that a carbon tax is the most efficient route to cleaning up the climate. That takes the “externality” of climate emissions and makes them internal, but also gives companies flexibility to reduce emissions in ways that make the most economic sense.
