This is a great idea.  I hope folks would ask a response question to candidates about their position on a carbon tax. (and basically all of Al's 10 point plan).  Cap and trade seems to be taking root, but I really think  a carbon tax is the more pragmatic and sensible approach.

I really hope Al decides to run.  

The guys at the  Carbon Tax Center at www.carbontax.org  have the right idea with regards to some serious policy discussion.

Cheers, Gary Gifford

1st, economists report that if you add 100% to the cost of energy, peoples' purchase of it will tend to fall by only about 40%.

The US needs to cut GHG outputs by ~ 95% just to stop adding to the problem of excess airborne GHGs -

So the first question is just how large a carbon tax can be imposed without the brave politicians getting slung out of power - even a 20% tax hike would be risky, and would yield only an 8% cut in energy usage.

2nd, Singapore has (had?) a neat system of pricing that was far more effective,
whereby every household got a "subsistence" tranch of power at a low price, a second limited tranch at a higher price, and an unlimited luxury tranche at an exorbitant price.

The second question is thus whether a carbon tax is as fair as other options.

3rd, it is debatable whether the ordinary householder has and identifiable influence over the fossil fuel industry, yet carbon taxes are based on the premis that raising retail prices will somehow cause the industry to start to suppy non-fossil energies.

The third question is thus whether it is either fair or productive to tax the ordinary householder/energy user, who has little or no choice as to the type of energies bought, but only a degree of choice over the ammount.

So if Carbon Taxes are the plan, I'd say that Big Oil & the Saudis would be happy to provide (discreet) campaign funding, knowing that it will make little if any difference to their sales,
unlike the potentially seminal option of
"Cap, Entitle & Trade".

There is of course the BRED Tax concept (courtesy of GCI) where a revenue neutral tax is applied competitively to energy corporations' shareholders according to the proportion of the corporation's annual Budget for Research, Exploration & Development" being invested in the Sustainable Energies.

This would directly impact the sharelders who are profitting from GHG pollution and who mandate the energy corporation annual expenditure plans.
Thus a BRED Tax is not stricly a Carbin Tax but it would, reliably, generate many times the latter's output of sustainable energy start-ups within a given time frame.

With regard to asking politicians "What's your plan ?" would it not be kinder,
 and more polite,
to propose plans for them to respond to, as most patently haven't a clue as to what needs doing ?

Regards,

Billhook

I am so excited for this campaign. The primaries afford us an access to candidates that we won't have during the general elections - when candidates are still trying to one-up each other, what better time to challenge them to lay down serious plans for how they will be the president to stop global warming?

Sarah

Sarah Clader NJPIRG Student Chapters sclader@eden.rutgers.edu 908-868-7511