I dislike the fact that I can't let this go but in September of 2015 I said this in response to that title of a Mankiw column: "I don't really understand how one can say that the Republican Party is where efficient climate policy will happen." And still, while I would love to be proven wrong, I don't really understand how one can even think that as the GOP's behavior towards pricing carbon has gotten significantly worse since September 2015:
House Republicans this week will vote to condemn taxes on carbon dioxide emissions, slamming the door on an idea that some members of their party have flirted with in the past.
The nonbinding resolution, sponsored by Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), lists numerous problems with a carbon tax, declaring, “It is the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to American families and businesses, and is not in the best interest of the United States.”
The election-year proposal responds to years of pressure from Democrats and economists across the political spectrum who have endorsed the idea.
A carbon tax also has the backing of some conservatives, who argue it would be a simple way to reduce greenhouse gases without new regulations or more government.
Numerous think tanks, including the R Street Institute and the Niskanen Center, have been pressuring GOP lawmakers to endorse a carbon tax. The American Enterprise Institute held closed-door meetings in 2012 to get additional groups on board with little success.
But with the GOP broadly skeptical of climate change science and new taxes, Republican lawmakers have avoided endorsing a carbon tax, and the House’s resolution is meant to make clear where they stand.
via thehill.com
Here is the link to The Hill article where the U.S. House of Representatives triumphantly voted to condemn taxes on carbon dioxide emissions a few days later: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/283029-house-condemns-carbon-tax.
