Abstract:
We provide evidence from a nationally representative survey on Americans' willingness to pay (WTP) for a carbon tax, and public preferences for how potential carbon-tax revenue should be spent. The average WTP for a tax on fossil fuels that increases household energy bills is US$177 per year. This translates into an average WTP of 14% more on average for households across the United States, where energy costs differ significantly across states. Regarding the tax revenues, Americans are most in support of using the money to invest in clean energy and infrastructure. There is relatively less support for reducing income or payroll taxes, returning dividends to households, and other expenditure categories. Finally, Americans support using the tax revenues to assist displaced workers in the coal industry enough to compensate each miner nearly US$146 000 upon passage of a carbon tax.
Matthew J Kotchen, Zachary M Turk, and Anthony A Leiserowitz, Environ. Res. Lett. 12(9), 2017: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa822a
And this:
A separate survey question asked respondents about whether or not they think global warming is happening. The omitted category of 'don't know' is compared against respondents answering either 'yes' or 'no.' We find statistically significant results for both. Those who believe global warming is happening are 35 percentage points more likely to support the carbon tax, whereas those who do not believe global warming is happening are 25 percentage points less likely to support the carbon tax.
Looking at the supplementary tables, willingness to pay is $368 higher for the 70% who believe that global warming is happening and $260 less for the 13% who don't believe it is happening (estimated relative to the 17% who don't know). These are huge differences from the $177 mean willingness to pay.
