WC Archive

It's almost enough to cause a double-take: the CEO and Chairman of Duke Energy announced that the firm will lobby for the introduction of a carbon tax in order to reduce fossil fuel use and address global warming.

"Personally, I feel the time has come to act - to take steps as a nation to reduce the carbon intensity of our economy," Paul Anderson told several hundred Charlotte business and civil leaders at a breakfast meeting. "And it's going to take all of us to do it."

Anderson expressed concern that the lack of action at the federal level will result in 50 different state-level policies. While that's an understandable caution, it ignores the current cooperation between states on environmental policies. We're more likely to see a small handful of different policies, with significant regional alignment (e.g., the Northeast, the West coast, etc.).

Anderson acknowledged that a carbon tax was unlikely to appear under the current administration, but wanted to get the discussion started.

(Via Green Car Congress)