NYC mayor Bloomberg calls for national carbon tax

New York Times blogger Sewell Chan has a detailed post up about New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's call for a national carbon tax. You might remember how earlier this fall, there was talk of a congestion charge in the Big Apple (didn't happpen) as well as banning all vehicle traffic from Times Square (And, let's not forget the mayor's strange commuting practice, just as an aside). Bloomberg's latest is not something that his city would implement, but is instead an idea for the entire country to try and figure out. He also called for an end to corn-based ethanol subsidies and higher federal fuel efficiency standards along with the carbon tax. Bloomberg, according to Chan, says that a cap-and-trade system is "politically more feasible, but argued that it obscures costs and is less effective than a carbon tax. Based on his decades in Wall Street and as head of his financial services company, Bloomberg L.P., Mr. Bloomberg argued that 'the certainty of a pollution fee - coupled with a tax cut for all Americans - is a much better deal.'"

You can read the entire speech in which Bloomberg talked about the carbon tax (it was delivered at a national mayor's conference in Seattle) over at Chan's post.

Related:

• Bloomberg's Strange Commute
• NY State legislature shelves Manhattan congestion charge plan
• Easing congestion by banning all vehicle traffic from Times Square
• London Deputy Mayor speaks in NYC about congestion charge policy

[Source: Sewell Chan / New York Times]