a review of eco taxes

Ecological Tax Reform in New York State: Combining Environmental and Economic Goals
This study explores a novel policy strategy which promises both environmental improvement and enhancement of economic vitality. The policy is ecological tax reform, a shifting of taxes away from traditional tax bases, such as labor and business income and assets, towards pollutant emissions and natural resource depletion. Our study examines the effects of such a tax shift policy for New York State. In particular, we analyze the effects of carbon taxes with simultaneous reductions of traditional taxes in New York State. We examine its effects on energy use and carbon emissions on the one hand, and on employment, output and commodity prices on the other. In this Executive Summary we discuss: (1) the case for ecological tax reform as an effective environmental policy; (2) the opportunities it affords for economic development; (3) its rationale at the state level; (4) the policy scenarios that we studied; (5) the methodology we employed; (6) the results of our analysis for the energy sector; and (7) for the economy; and (8) the conclusions

2- http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/ecotax.htm

Contents
• A conceptual framework for ecotaxation
• An ecotax / expenditure package
• Links to ecotaxation resources, people and organisations

3- http://www.foe.co.uk/elec97/greendiv.htm

GENERAL ELECTION 1997 - GREEN DIVIDENDS
Why the Chancellor should invest in Eco-tax Reform Friends of the Earth has long argued for eco-tax reform. This briefing sets out the arguments for our position and why we believe the Chancellor should invest in eco-tax reform at this budget.

4- http://www.tekno.dk/udgiv/963/963all.htm

Ecological tax reform - Report from the Danish Board of technology
On 22nd of June 1995 the Danish Board of Technology held a conference with 130 participants on ecological tax reform. The issue currently is a hot topic in public debate, since the parliament and various business organisations and major corporations are negotiating the extend and the time table for a change in the tax system towards a more ecological system. The conference was arranged because Denmark seems to be one of the countries where it might be important to highlight the debate on which kind of changes are needed to promote more sustainable patterns of production and consumption. This report contains the presentations on different aspects of this very complicated subject.

5- http://www.chemsoc.org/gateway/chembyte/cib/eco.htm

Eco taxes in the EU
Imposing taxes on economic activities that harm the environment is one way to influence environmental behaviour. Catherine Martin looks at what green taxes can deliver besides environmental benefits, and at the European Commission's efforts to introduce EU-wide eco taxes

6- http://robles.colorado.edu/~tomruth/3545/melamed.html

Eco-Tax, The Path to Economic Sustainability
Due to the relative cheap cost of energy, demand is high. This high demand for energy, and therefore for coal burning power plants and other greenhouse gas producing energy suppliers, will force drastic climatic change over the next several centuries. The only solution to this cheap good and high demand is to change the market such that the good is no longer cheap and demand is no longer high. This can happen only through a concept known as an eco-tax. An eco-tax would place large taxes on energy consumption forcing drastic reduction in energy consumption and drastic increases in the use of alternative energies such as solar and wind. In this paper I will examine the feasibility of an eco-tax from an economic perspective, a political perspective, and finally an ethical perspective. I will propose the specific tax, examine the political barriers to the tax and discuss the ethical ramifications of such a tax. Such a tax is feasible and is the only viable solution to our current environmental crises.

7- http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/gec/pubs/briefing/brf-etr.htm

Briefing: Eco-nomic Tax Reform
Current tax and pricing systems seem almost designed to waste both labour and natural resources. This review investigates the environmental implications of the design of tax systems and the ways in which they might be changed to encourage sustainability.

8- http://britac3.britac.ac.uk/pubs/keynes95/01conten.html

The Economics of the Environment
Contents 1. The Resource Basis of Human Activity
2. The Neglect of Ecological Economics
3. Poverty and Institutional Failure as Causes of Environmental Degradation
4. Markets and their Failure: Unidirectional Interactions
5. Markets and their Failure: Reciprocal Interactions and the Problem of the Commons
6. Public Failure and the Erosion of Local Commons
7. Economic Growth and the Environment
8. Trade and the Environment
9. Valuing Environmental Resources
10. Net National Product as an Index of Social Well-Being
11. International Institutional Failure and the Erosion of Global Commons
12. Collective Agreements and the Structure of Authority

9- http://www.europen.be/econ.htm

This discussion paper sets out EUROPEN's position on the use of economic instruments in packaging and packaging waste policy. We support the use of disposal taxes as a way of improving the economics of recovering any material which might otherwise enter the waste stream. However, some other measures could distort the market and impose trade barriers for packaging and packaged goods.

10- http://www.globalpolicy.org/finance/alternat/carbon/index.htm

Carbon Taxes
Although the United Kingdom has proposed a domestic carbon/energy tax, it remains the main blocking state on the proposal to implement a harmonized energy/carbon tax among EU members. Within EU states, industry groups are also vehemently opposed to carbon levies, and prefer to achieve emissions reductions through voluntary agreements with government and energy market liberalization. The articles trace the debate, from February 1997 to the present.

11- http://solstice.crest.org/sustainable/etp/carbon.html

State Carbon Tax Model
The State Carbon Tax Model was originally developed by the Center for Global Change in 1991-92 in response to a request by the Maryland Legislature for advice on possible new energy and environmental taxes. Since then, the Model has been adapted for wider use, made more user friendly, and tested by state officials and environmentalists in other states. The Center for Global Change is now making the Model available free of charge on the WorldWide Web for general use by state officials, the environmental community and other interested parties.

12- http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/SofiaInitiatives/EcoInstruments/ EIReport/cover.html

REPORT on the Use of Economic Instruments for Environmental Policy in Central and Eastern Europe
The 1995 Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, approved the Sofia Initiatives which were set up by high level officials from Central and Eastern Europe. By intensifying the sharing of positive experiences, the Sofia Initiatives are intended to broaden and deepen successful initiatives in the region. One of the four Initiatives is on Economic Instruments: The Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic is chairing the Sofia Initiative on Economic Instruments (SIEI). The Regional Environmental Center provides secretariat support to the implementation of the SIEI. The wider goal and purpose of the SIEI is to support CEE and NIS countries in making more effective use of economic instruments for environmental protection by: •Facilitating the exchange of experience and information on economic instruments; •promoting steps which lead to closer integration of environmental and economic policies; •raising awareness of the potential and the benefits of green budget reform.

13- http://www.idrc.org.sg/eepsea/publications/spaper/Connor.htm

Applying Economic Instruments in Developing Countries: From Theory to Implementation
This paper proceeds as follows: in the next section we briefly review the experience with the implementation of economic instruments in both OECD countries and developing countries. The types of instruments considered are: pollution taxes/charges, product taxes/charges, deposit-refund schemes, and tradable permits. Also, the related practices of earmarking revenues from EIs and creating specialised environmental funds are considered. In section 3, a general framework is presented for evaluating alternative instruments in terms of their ease of implementation, and in the final section some suggestions are advanced for addressing the more common implementation problems.

14- http://www.idrc.org.sg/eepsea/publications/spaper/Whalley.htm

Environmental Consideration in Tax Policy Design
This paper discusses how environmental considerations will affect tax policy in the decades ahead. It argues that in the future, interactions between tax and environmental policy are likely to go well beyond recent discussion of double dividend issues and internalization of environmental externalities via tax policy will be the goal, which inevitably will involve the particular rather than the general. As a result, notions of neutrality which dominate current thinking on tax design will come under challenge; and in ways which will go well beyond current discussion of special treatment for particular goods and industries on environmental grounds. Special treatment of methods of production, more so than of goods, will be the name of the game. Moreover, the informational requirements of such an approach to tax policy are likely to be large. The paper concludes by pointing out that if environmental quality, as many suppose, is a luxury good with income elasticity of demand greater than one, then high income households will gain disproportionately from internalization of the externalities at issue. This may fuel pressures for more redistribution elsewhere in the tax system than is currently the case.

  15- http://hgea01.hgea.org/~daver/eipdisp1.htm

Energy Incentive Programs/Financing Alternatives Disincentives for Fossil Fuel Use

16- http://www.psychologie.uni-kiel.de/nordlicht/sme/b1.htm

THE DANISH CO2 TAX ON TRADE AND INDUSTRY
In 1993, Denmark introduced a minor CO2 tax on trade (the service sector) and industry. In 1995, the Danish Parliament adopted a package of new measures in order to conform to the environmental targets concerning reduction of CO2 and SO2 emissions. Between 1996 and 2000 the tax is due to increase considerably and a new SO2 tax is going to be introduced. The Ministry of Finance expects the CO2 package to reduce the CO2 emissions from trade and industry by 2.4 million tons, corresponding to a reduction by 4.6% of the total Danish CO2 emissions in relation to their 1988 level. The tax scheme represents a serious attempt to provide industry with a fiscal incentive to undertake energy-saving investments. The CO2 package can be characterised by: • The effective level of taxation is the highest in the world for industry.
• The total revenue from the tax is expected to be three billion DKK in year 2000 which is 1% of the total state revenue. The revenue is to be recycled mainly by lowering the non wage costs of labour.
• The level of taxation depends on the purpose of the energy use. Three types of energy use are defined. When companies use the same energy source for different purposes, several meters are required within the company.
• Companies with energy-intensive processes get a tax reduction if they enter an individual agreement with the Danish Energy Agency. For these companies the economic instrument is combined with an administrative one.
The new scheme took effect from January 1, 1996 and the tax levels will increase gradually until year 2000, see figure 1. It is too early to evaluate the impact of the system, but some initial observations can be made.

17- http://robles.colorado.edu/~tomruth/3545/white.html

The Effect of a Carbon Dioxide Emissions Abatement Tax on the American Economy
This paper considers some of the possible effects that a tax on carbon dioxide emissions would have on the American economy. Five models that attempted to mirror some facet of economy were utilized in this process. The key conclusions from this paper are: (i) A uniform tax on carbon emissions would lower the GNP from 0.25% to 2% below base case levels, because of the inflated price of market goods associated with the higher cost of energy. (ii) The price elasticities of demand for energy will dictate the feasibility of fuel substitution, which could, in the long run, have significant effects for emission abatement. (iii) The incidence of this tax falls on those industries that use fossil fuels as "feedstocks." The burden of this tax is therefore unevenly distributed throughout the economy. Furthermore, this tax is regressive. (iv) If levied, a carbon tax will reduce investment in the short run, but if the revenue raised by the tax is recycled back into the economy as a decrease in personal income tax rates, then there will be a resultant net benefit. (v) Finally, the global market for CCT has been calculated at $714 billion, and the United States is the leader in this technological field.

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