Effects of U.S. Tax Policy on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

At the request of Congress, a National Research Council committee—which included a Nicholas Institute staff member—was formed to evaluate the most important tax provisions that affect carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and to estimate the magnitude of the effects. This analysis is the culmination of those efforts, finding that not only do current federal tax provisions have minimal net effect on greenhouse gas emissions, but that several existing tax subsidies have unexpected effects, and others yield little reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of revenue loss.