The favored federal policy to address climate change is a domestic cap-and-trade system. However, a vocal minority of political leaders have begun arguing in favor of a carbon tax. Carbon taxes seem particularly attractive both for fiscal reasons and because they provide certainty over the price...

This paper first reviews the conceptual case for, and appropriate design of, fiscal policies to address major externalities associated with energy use-global warming, local air pollution, and various side effects (e.g., congestion) from motor vehicles. Techniques for (roughly) estimating the...