SHARE:
submit to reddit
print



France announces carbon tax
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
September 10, 2009


The President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, has announced that he will implement a carbon tax to help "save the human race" from global warming.

The tax of 17 Euros (about 25 dollars) per ton of carbon will be placed on the consumption of oil, gas, and coal, but not electricity. Eighty percent of France's electricity is delivered by nuclear power.

"We want to change behavior toward fossil energies," the French leader said in a speech in the city of Culoz in eastern France. "Changing behavior to help protect our environment is the aim of the carbon tax."

Many in France are critical of the plan, including the Socialist party which opposes Sarkozy who has stated the tax will hurt the poor. The proposition is also opposed by two thirds of French people according to recent polls. However some environment organizations, like Greenpeace France, say the tax is too low and should include electricity.

Heavy industries and power companies are exempt from the tax, since they are apart of the EU's carbon trading program.

Sweden has the highest carbon tax in Europe, charging 100 Euros (145 dollars) per ton of consumption, nearly six times Sarkozy's proposal.







Related articles

Lomborg calls for a carbon tax

(06/17/2009) Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish business school professor and author who has riled environmentalists by arguing that addressing climate change should be a lesser priority than health and nutrition initiatives, is calling for a $7 per ton tax on carbon dioxide emissions, reports the Wall Street Journal.


Cap or Tax Carbon Emissions?

(02/04/2009) Debate is raging about the relative merits of a carbon tax or a cap and trade system as the centerpiece of federal legislation to reduce emissions that fuel global warming. Here is why cap and trade must be the U.S. policy instrument of choice.


Carbon tax will ease transition to sensible climate policy

(08/13/2008) The management of carbon dioxide and the climate represent both an economic development challenge and the ecological problem of the next hundred years. Energy use, economic success and carbon dioxide emissions are, currently, intertwined. A carbon market that represents the true cost of energy and the disposal of our waste products in the environment is a potential long-term policy mechanism for carbon dioxide management. However, the strong interconnection between carbon dioxide emissions and economic success distinguishes the carbon market from other environmental markets used to control pollution. Therefore evolution to that solution is not straightforward; there are a series of necessary steps needed to develop a market.




SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
print


CITATION:
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com (September 10, 2009). France announces carbon tax . http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0910-hance_france_tax.html



News index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home


Advertisements:


Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing







Mongabay Store
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant t-shirts
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog t-shirts
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog
Licking this frog may make you crazy t-shirts
Licking this frog may make you crazy



MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

CONTENTS
Rainforests
Tropical Fish
News
Madagascar
Pictures
Kids' Site
Languages
TCS Journal
About
Archives
Topics | RSS
Newsletter



WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Email:


INTERACT
Facebook
Contact
Twitter
Interns
Photo Store
Help


SUPPORT
Help support mongabay.com when you buy from Amazon.com



POPULAR PAGES
Rainforests
Rain forests
Amazon deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation stats
Why rainforests matter
Saving rainforests
Deforestation stats
Rainforest canopy

News
Most popular articles
Worth saving?
Forest conservation
Earth Day
Poverty alleviation
Cell phones in Africa
Seniors helping Africa
Saving orangutans in Borneo
Palm oil
Amazon palm oil
Future of the Amazon
Cane toads
Dubai environment
Investing to save rainforests
Visiting the rainforest
Defaunation
Blue lizard
Amazon fires
Extinction debate
Extinction crisis
Malaysian palm oil
Borneo

News topics
Amazon
Biofuels
Brazil
Carbon Finance
Climate Change
Deforestation
Energy
Happy-upbeat
Interviews
Oceans
Palm oil
Rainforests
Solutions
Wildlife
MORE TOPICS




STORE

SHIRTS
HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS


CALENDARS
  • Mount Kenya
  • East Africa Safari Wildlife
  • Kenya's Turkana People
  • Peru
  • African Wildlife
  • Alaska
  • China
  • Madagascar Chameleons


    CANVAS BAGS

  • Hallucinogenic frog bag
  • Madagascar wildlife bag














  • Copyright mongabay 2009