Possible Bipartisan Support for Carbon Tax

[Ban my account ffs!]

I like the idea of a carbon tax phased in over a couple years coupled with tax free investment in carbon emission reduction technology (based on amount of emissions reduced).

Also, and most importantly:  Allow an equivalence of carbon dioxide emissions be deducted for each unit of non-CO2 ghgs reduced.  Methane is 25+ times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2.  Allow companies to absorb some of the tax early on by focusing on reducing the much more potent, but easier and less costly to reduce, emissions of Nitris Oxides and Methane.

And no.. Sandy was not caused by global warming.  Major hurricane landfalls on the U.S. east coast were much more common from 1918-1965 than they were from 1965-present.  And because tropical storm observing was spotty at best prior to the launch of satellites, we have no way of knowing just how many storms formed out in the Atlantic and fizzled before they ever reached land.

We know that many of the numerous storms that have formed in recent years have done just that.  Taking that into account, it is safe to assume there were periods in the late 19th century that were at least as active as the Atlantic now.  But we didn't have the ever watching eye of satellites and there were many fewer boats and coastal dwellers to suffer through them.

Human suffering from storms is increasing.. no doubt about that... but it has more to do with increasing numbers, living in vulnerable places, and increased real-time communication than something that is easy to blame, like "global warming".

It should also be noted that the warm waters that fed Sandy have been stirred up and have cooled dramatically.  Water temps off the southeast are now much cooler than normal.. indicating that the anomalously warm sea water that enhanced Sandy's development were fleeting and quite shallow.  We've had more powerful storms in the same spot and they haven't cooled the ocean nearly as much (thanks to more robust heat content in the ocean there)