IMF Proposes Global $75 a Ton Carbon Tax “by 2030”

Today’s Washington Post reported “The world needs a massive carbon tax in just 10 years to limit climate change, IMF says” by Chris
Mooney and Andrew Freedman.

The
first paragraph notes “A global agreement to make fossil fuel burning more
expensive is urgent and the most efficient way of fighting climate change, an
International Monetary Fund study found on Thursday.”  The article added “The Nobel Prize-winning Yale economist
William D. Nordhaus has argued that a carbon tax of $300 per ton or even higher
might be required.” and “‘The climate crisis is so dire, and
public/popular determination to attack it is suddenly so strong and
unquenchable, that even $75/ton by 2030 seems far too moderate a target,’ wrote
Charles Komanoff, director of the Carbon Tax Center, in an emailed response to
the IMF study.”

The article cited Paolo Mauro, deputy director of the fiscal
affairs department at the IMF: “If you compare the average level of
the carbon tax today, which is $2 [a ton], to where we need to be, it’s a
quantum leap.”

The gap between so-called “idealism” and serious planning is rapidly narrowing but action is what matters to reduce CO₂ emissions before humans lose control of the climate crisis. As I noted before, political realism is the same as planetary suicide.