The following article reports that  a “sea change” appears to be occurring.  As I have previously mentioned, we are moving beyond the point where it’s necessary to convince people that the climate is changing, temperatures worldwide are getting hotter and that humans are the major cause of this phenomena.  While there are still climate skeptics, there are less and less of them and they are not controlling the conversation anymore.  (I wonder if there are still folks that deny that smoking causes cancer?)

What is happening is that political and business leaders are working on developing solutions.  One of the solutions that is being seriously considered and gaining acceptance is pricing carbon.  In my opinion and that of many others, if this is done well, the profit motive will have an enormous impact.  Give capitalism the right incentives and signals and get out of the way.  Change will happen and quickly.

That said, it has to be equitable and take into account how to make this work so that all levels of our society benefit.  Or at the very least, not hurt.

We can lick this problem and change the world. And we can do it in time to avoid the worst consequences of a changing climate. But we must have the right rules, regulations and incentives in place to make it happen.  It’s beginning to look like this is going to happen…and sooner rather than too late.  It better.  We’re running out of time.

73 Nations, 1,000 Corporations Back Carbon Pricing

Jean Chemnick, E&E reporter
Published: Monday, September 22, 2014
Countries representing more than half the world’s gross domestic product have pledged support for a price on carbon emissions, the World Bank announced today ahead of the U.N. Climate Summit in New York City.

Eleven regional governments and 1,000 corporations also signed on to the pledge, including many that already have carbon taxes or internal carbon pricing in place, the bank said.

Signatories include China, Russia and the European Union, as well as a host of developing nations, which in total represent 52 percent of the world’s GDP. The United States didn’t sign the statement, but seven states — California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — did.

In a call with reporters, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said the bank would partner with the We Mean Business Coalition on a “carbon pricing leadership coalition” to support efforts around the world to enact carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems.

Kim called the announcement a “sea change” in global attitudes toward curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

“I think this is by far the most definitive and clear signal that we’re moving in the right direction,” he said. “So when we started talking to governments and companies about this, there was a lot of hesitation. Something happened over the last few months that got us to where we are today.”
The announcement comes 15 months before the U.N. talks in Paris that aim to produce an international agreement on emissions reduction and climate financing.
World Bank Vice President Rachel Kyte said the bank was “agnostic” about the structure of the taxes. She noted that companies are seeking “fair treatment and predictable treatment in all the jurisdictions in which they work.”
“What is the tax regime for a world where we want to drive carbon out of the economy?” she asked. “That is the conversation that has started already, and pricing carbon becomes one of the effective first steps as we try to drive carbon out of our economic growth going forward.”
A handful of conservative economists in the United States have begun to call for a carbon tax, with revenue to be offset with tax rollbacks elsewhere. But poverty advocates and others argue that a revenue-neutral policy might not protect poor consumers from energy and food price hikes that would result from a carbon tax.