资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Carbon pricing—implemented either through a carbon tax or cap and trade—is widely thought to be one of the most powerful policy options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As described in “Carbon Pricing 101,” introducing a price on emissions changes the cost of using fossil fuel, leading people to use less. Because a carbon price causes the costs of energy and other goods to increase, many express concern that carbon pricing would be regressive, negatively affecting low-income households in particular. However, just the opposite could result; low-income households may be better off under a carbon price, and relatively higher income households could be worse off. The distribution of a carbon pricing policy’s economic impacts across households depends on how the policy is implemented—and in particular, how carbon pricing revenue is used.