Al Gore's Pollution Tax Proposal Makes Sense, Says Duke Expert

Former Vice President Al Gore's proposal to replace payroll taxes with a tax on pollution, including carbon dioxide, to help cut greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming "is a welcome idea that deserves to be taken seriously," says William H. Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry at Duke University.

Gore offered his proposal during a talk in New York City on Monday, Sept. 18.

"Carbon taxation would be much more efficient than a cap-and-trade system, particularly if the cap-and-trade system includes using agricultural soils and forests as 'sinks' to sequester carbon dioxide and keep it from entering the atmosphere," Schlesinger said.

In such a cap-and-trade system, "defrauders could claim to have bigger carbon sinks than they do, or to have land in a remote location to plant trees, when they don't. It's a messy system," said Schlesinger, a member of the National Academy of Sciences who is widely cited for his studies on the ability of forests and agricultural soils to remove and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. "Gore's proposed taxation system would be more transparent and effective."

Schlesinger added that "meaningful federal subsidies and tax breaks for renewable energy also would be welcome" as part of a coordinated approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. "There's no single solution, no silver bullet," he said. "We need an integrated approach."

In his proposal, Gore said the pollution tax should replace all payroll taxes, including social security and unemployment benefits. He also called for establishing a Carbon Neutral Mortgage Association to help homeowners make their homes more energy efficient, among other actions.

Gore offered his proposals in a talk that kicked off a week of high-level discourse on climate change and international development, including five scheduled congressional hearings and the three-day Clinton Global Initiative.