A group of financial sustainability advocates are calling on New York state to introduce a carbon tax to help generate revenue and address the problem of climate change.
The Network for Sustainable Financial Markets (NSFM), a group of academics and industry professionals that focus on sustainable investment, announced it has proposed a policy that would impose a sales tax on fossil fuels produced or distributed in New York state, which could then be redistributed through income tax refunds. The NSFM says the proposed policy would send a price signal to consumers and producers that pollution is costly, leading to changes in their behaviour.
The group says that a carbon tax set at a rate equivalent to US$30 per metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted, would generate approximately US$3.3 billion a year in new net state tax receipts, which could then be returned through taxpayers. A similar policy has been pioneered in British Columbia, it notes.
Additionally, the NSFM says that reorienting spending toward more industries outside of the fuel sectors would result in job creation and economic growth. It also notes that failing to implement economic policies to reduce the impact of climate change will have serious economic consequences.