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FROM VOLUME 6, NUMBER 7-8, JULY-AUGUST 1993

REPORTS...
ENVIRONMENTAL/ENERGY TAXES

Item #d93jul65

Taxation and the Environment: Complementary Policies, 116 pp., June 1993, $22/£15/F90/DM39. OECD Pubs., 2001 L St. NW, S-700, Washington DC 20036 (202-785-6323); or OECD, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France (tel: 33-1-45-24-82-00); or other OECD outlets.

A tax-based approach to environmental issues can take two forms: new taxes or modification of certain existing (e.g., energy) taxes. This study, by the OECD Joint Task Force on Tax and Environment, examines both options and the general question of how tax and environmental policies can be made not only compatible but also mutually reinforcing. Drawing on detailed studies of OECD countries, it suggests a set of simple rules for the introduction of environmental taxes, aimed at reducing undesirable social impacts and making the taxes more politically acceptable. Identifies options for more effective use of tax-based policies, in terms of implementation strategies and international concerns.

Item #d93jul66

The Choice Between Energy and Other Taxes: Traditional Concerns and Environmental Considerations, L.H. Goulder (Economics Dept. Stanford Univ.), June 1993 draft. Contact Ctr. for Policy Res., Amer. Council for Capital Formation, 1750 K St. NW, S. 400, Washington DC 20006 (202-293-5811).

On narrow economic terms, an energy tax would be twice as costly to the economy, but would yield substantially higher environmental benefits than personal income or value-added taxes. The energy tax proposed by President Clinton would cut CO₂ emissions 7-8% below baseline 1998 levels-roughly five times the reduction predicted by the Administration. (The report and its approach are discussed extensively in Energy, Econ. & Clim. Change, pp. 14-15, June 1993.)

Item #d93jul67

The Economic Effects of the Proposed CO₂/Energy Tax, CEC Directorate-General for Econ. & Financial Affairs, 111 pp., Mar. 1993. Constitutes Supplement A (No. 3, Mar. 1993) to European Economy; contact Off. Official Pubs. of the EC, Commission of the European Communities, L-2985 Luxembourg.

Incorporates more extensive analyses that have recently appeared in recent EC publications, but also includes a direct comparison of effects of the proposed EC tax with the broad-based energy tax proposed by President Clinton for the U.S.

Item #d93jul68

Environmental Protection: Implications of Using Pollution Taxes to Supplement Regulation (GAO/RCED-93-13), 54 pp., Feb 1993, no charge. U.S. Gen. Accounting Off., POB 6015, Gaithersburg MD 20877 (202-275-6241).

Pollution taxes must be carefully designed and implemented if they are to deliver the intended environmental and economic benefits. An effective monitoring system would be needed to ensure that the tax was reducing pollution, and that taxing one pollutant does not lead to the increase of others. An effective tax rate is not always known, so taxes could be gradually introduced and results monitored.