Excerpt:
]]>Analyses of carbon-tax impacts on U.S. employment are sparse because of the limited history of existing tax schemes. Yet we can assess job impacts by using what is known as a computable general-equilibrium energy-economy model—in particular, the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), which was created by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). For more than a decade, the Georgia Institute of Technology has used its version of that model, known at GT-NEMS, to forecast the impacts of energy and climate policies.
The GND that we modeled starts in 2020 with a tax of $60 levied on each metric ton of CO2 emitted by the U.S. energy system. The tax is set to increase annually at the rate of inflation, plus 5 percent. We also examined a carbon tax starting at $25 and growing at the same rate, allowing a more moderate price to be compared with a higher tax. By 2030, the $25 tax would be $41 per metric ton of CO2 emitted, and the $60 tax would be $98. By 2050, the two taxes would rise to $108 and $259, respectively.