What is a carbon tax?
Carbon is the most abundant element on Earth. It's an inert, rocky material. When compressed, it forms diamonds. Carbon does not interact with the atmosphere nor does it cause global warming. However, it does form compounds with other elements. When added to two atoms of oxygen, it forms a carbon dioxide molecule or CO2. When combined with four atoms of hydrogen, it forms methane or CH4. And both carbon dioxide and methane are so-called Greenhouse gases, along with many others, including water vapor. Greenhouse gases and the Greenhouse Effect are explained later in this article. So when policy-makers talk about taxing carbon, they're not talking about taxing "rocks" - they're talking about taxing carbon dioxide.
More specifically they're talking about taxing carbon dioxide emitted from human activity. Most CO2 emitted comes from natural processes, such as from breathing. Carbon dioxide emitted through man-made activity is done primarily by the combustion or burning of various compounds. Hydrocarbons, such as petroleum products, are one such compound. When combusted, a hydrocarbon such as methane or octane (gasoline) combines with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. For example, a molecule of methane CH4 plus two oxygen molecules O2 results in two water molecules H2O and one carbon dioxide molecule C02. Other hydrocarbons are much more complex molecules, such as gasoline which is C8H18, but the chemistry of combustion is similar. As explained in the section on Climate Change below, it's these global warming gases that policy makers are trying to control
One way to do this is to tax carbon dioxide released by burning petroleum products - gasoline, diesel, heating oil, kerosene, propane and natural gas. These are all used in transportation - cars, buses, trains, air planes - in electric power generation, in manufacturing processes, and in home and commercial heating. For now, at least, taxes are being proposed only for home, commercial and for cars and trucks, but not for mass transit such as trains or air planes, though the so-called Green New Deal would even tax or ban those. The idea is that a carbon tax would make using these fuels cost-prohibitive, and people will stop using them.
Every state in New England, plus New York, has proposed legislation to impose a carbon tax. Generally, these all work the same way. The tax is imposed on a relatively low level on every ton of carbon dioxide emitted to start with, and then the tax increases every year until, ideally, the user is no longer able to afford the tax and stops using the fuel that's being taxed. in some cases, such as Connecticut, the tax increases forever. In some states such as Vermont, it stops at a cap of $50 per ton of CO2. In some cases such as New Hampshire, the incremental increases stop at a certain year, but the tax continues to rise with inflation every year thereafter.
More specifically they're talking about taxing carbon dioxide emitted from human activity. Most CO2 emitted comes from natural processes, such as from breathing. Carbon dioxide emitted through man-made activity is done primarily by the combustion or burning of various compounds. Hydrocarbons, such as petroleum products, are one such compound. When combusted, a hydrocarbon such as methane or octane (gasoline) combines with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. For example, a molecule of methane CH4 plus two oxygen molecules O2 results in two water molecules H2O and one carbon dioxide molecule C02. Other hydrocarbons are much more complex molecules, such as gasoline which is C8H18, but the chemistry of combustion is similar. As explained in the section on Climate Change below, it's these global warming gases that policy makers are trying to control
One way to do this is to tax carbon dioxide released by burning petroleum products - gasoline, diesel, heating oil, kerosene, propane and natural gas. These are all used in transportation - cars, buses, trains, air planes - in electric power generation, in manufacturing processes, and in home and commercial heating. For now, at least, taxes are being proposed only for home, commercial and for cars and trucks, but not for mass transit such as trains or air planes, though the so-called Green New Deal would even tax or ban those. The idea is that a carbon tax would make using these fuels cost-prohibitive, and people will stop using them.
Every state in New England, plus New York, has proposed legislation to impose a carbon tax. Generally, these all work the same way. The tax is imposed on a relatively low level on every ton of carbon dioxide emitted to start with, and then the tax increases every year until, ideally, the user is no longer able to afford the tax and stops using the fuel that's being taxed. in some cases, such as Connecticut, the tax increases forever. In some states such as Vermont, it stops at a cap of $50 per ton of CO2. In some cases such as New Hampshire, the incremental increases stop at a certain year, but the tax continues to rise with inflation every year thereafter.
Tax Calculator
While every state's tax is a little different, at some point every state reaches the point where the tax is $50 per ton of CO2. This calculator will estimate what your annual tax will be at this $50 point in time, when you plug in various factors such as fuel or energy used for home heating (fuel oil, propane or natural gas), electricity consumption (in KWHr), and number of cars and average miles driven per year. This just calculates a rough estimate of the taxes you'll pay, in addition to the costs of the fuels and electricity you actually consume. Again, this just looks at a single point in time when the tax is $50 per ton of CO2. Your tax will be higher in following years and less in prior years.
Sample Calculation
Using the above calculator, let's say you have two cars, each driving an average of 15,000 miles per year, and you're an average user of electricity (12,000 kwh) and natural gas (1,100 cubic feet). Plugging those numbers in, and you get a tax cost of:
$1,119.60 Annual Tax
Using the above calculator, let's say you have two cars, each driving an average of 15,000 miles per year, and you're an average user of electricity (12,000 kwh) and natural gas (1,100 cubic feet). Plugging those numbers in, and you get a tax cost of:
$1,119.60 Annual Tax
Notes: The calculator uses data from the Energy Information Administration here to calculate the tax on various emissions of CO2 from the combustion of these fuels: gasoline produces 19.6 lbs of CO2/gallon; heating oil 22.4 lbs CO2/gall; propane 12.7 lbs/gall; natural gas 11.71 lbs/ccf. For electricity generation, we use ISO-NE's figures that show 49% of electricity in New England is generated by natural gas, 1% from coal, and 1.1% from diesel and then calculate pro-rata CO2 contributions from these figures. We do not calculate the impact of leaked methane from natural gas mains and pipelines. For conversion purposes, we use English tons not metric tons.
Learn more about your state's legislation
As mentioned, each state has its own unique proposed carbon tax legislation. The $50/ton rate above is what Connecticut has proposed for the tax in year 8 of their plan.
What is Climate Change?
Climate Change is the theory which postulates that various climate disasters will result from a warming Earth, due to the so-called Greenhouse Effect. The theory uses statistical analysis and climate modeling and simulation to assert that human activity in the 20th century has caused an unprecedented rise in the Earth's temperature through the emission of Greenhouse gases, and this rise will only increase into the future unless these emissions are reduced.
The Greenhouse Effect is the theory that Greenhouse gases trap heat irradiated from the surface of the Earth, rather than letting them escape into space. As the chart above shows, about half the solar radiation from the Sun is initially absorbed by the Earth and warms it. The rest is reflected back from the surface, some of which passes into space. and the rest is absorbed in the atmosphere. The heat from the Earth, generally from absorbed radiation, but also some from the interior of the planet, is radiated from the surface. Greenhouse gases radiate this heat (long-wave radiant energy in the chart above) back to the surface, trapping up to 86% as shown. As described here, Greenhouse gases help keep the Earth warm at about an average temperature of 59° Fahrenheit. Without these gases, most heat would escape into space, resulting in an average temperature of 0° F (i.e. perpetual winter). The concern is that statistical modeling done in the 1990s shows that too much Greenhouse gas will result in too high of a temperature, making human life uncomfortable at best. The planet Venus is an example of extreme runaway Greenhouse Effect where the atmosphere consists of 96% of the Greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which traps all the heat, resulting in a surface temperature of 864° F Though the models do not predict that Earth's atmosphere will ever reach Venus's 96% carbon dioxide content, CO2 on Earth does vary widely over geologic time. For example, in the Triassic period, over 200 million years ago, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 5 times greater than today (at about 0.2%) and as a result, the Earth was much warmer, sea levels were much higher, and the ice caps were non-existent. |
Greenhouse Gases
There are a number of gases in our atmosphere that are necessary for life on Earth. The most prevalent of these is Nitrogen, which makes up three-quarters of our air. Oxygen makes up about a fifth of our atmosphere. Water vapor constitutes about 2%. Carbon dioxide or CO2, which is necessary for plant life, makes up about 0.04% of our atmosphere. Of these gases, only a handful are actually Greenhouse gases that trap heat in our atmosphere and are generally present in only trace amounts. For example, the Greenhouse gas methane constitutes only 0.00018% of the gases in the atmosphere. As the next chart shows, Water vapor is the most prevalent Greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Though it makes up only 2% of all the gases in the air, it constitutes 95% of Greenhouse gases. By contrast, carbon dioxide, which makes up only 0.04% of the gases in the air, constitutes about 3.5% of total Greenhouse gases. Greenhouse Gas from Human Activity Of greater interest to policy-makers is Greenhouse gas created from human activity, since this is something government can ostensibly control. As the next chart shows, carbon dioxide constitutes some 82% of man-made greenhouse gases, methane about 9%, and nitrous oxide about 6%. Note that water vapor is excluded from the list, even though it's the most prevalent Greenhouse gas, because it's not caused by human activity, but rather is a natural phenomenon. As the chart shows, Greenhouse gases are caused by a variety of human activity: primarily through combustion or burning of various fuels, by industrial processes, and power generation. The Carbon in Carbon Dioxide As described in the introduction above, when policy-makers talk about carbon, they're actually referring to the Greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which is composed of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. Carbon in itself is an inert element that does not react with the atmosphere. "Carbon" is just a shorthand for carbon dioxide, or CO2, since it's this gas that traps heat, as explained above. Global Warming Potential (GWP) Next we look at how various Greenhouse gases compare to carbon dioxide on their effect on trapping heat and thus their effect on global warming. Carbon dioxide is by default set at a value of one, and the effect of other gases are thus relative to CO2. So if CO2 is 1 and another gas is 2, then that other gas is twice as effective at trapping heat than is CO2. As shown, all these gases are much more effective than CO2 in causing global warming. We look at the effect of the gases over a 20 year period. GWP Gas 1 Carbon dioxide 86 Methane 268 Nitrous Oxide 3790 Hydroflurocarbons Not shown is water vapor, the most prevalent greenhouse gas. For technical reasons it is hard to estimate water vapor's GWP, though some have estimated it to be about a thousand times less than carbon dioxide. But because water vapor is so prevalent, it has a great Greenhouse gas effect, taking into account both natural and man-made emissions. |