1. What is an Internal Carbon Tax? Through the market imperfection of external effects, private entities ignore the harmful impact their carbon emissions have on society and the environment., the idea of an internal carbon tax was created. An internal carbon tax is a voluntary, proactive approach to accurately account for an organization’s carbon dependence and decrease carbon emissions. With an internal carbon tax, an organization taxes itself via an internal fee on every metric ton of carbon it releases. This makes fossil fuel based energy and travel more expensive, and makes renewable energy, energy efficiency, and carbon offsets more attractive and affordable. It also creates an internal fund that can be used for used for further investments in sustainability, such as renewable and efficiency projects that will further lower carbon footprint! Leads with an Internal Carbon Tax Microsoft was recognized as a leader at the recent Paris COP 21. Using an internal carbon price of $6-$7 per metric ton, Microsoft’s results include $10M in annual energy cost savings, and funding numerous green investments: At an academic Earth Day event at Yale in 2014, economics professor William Nordhaus fielded a student question: What can we do here to reduce carbon emissions? He said: We could institute a carbon tax. The idea took off, and he led a University committee which included students, which helped the Internal Carbon Tax idea became a reality. In November 2015, Yale University became the first educational institution to apply an internal carbon tax. Their tax is based upon direct emissions that can be traced to the school, and uses a price of $40 per metric ton, a similar price used in many federal applications. The objective is to raise awareness and change how people behave in order to cut emissions. Several Yale departments participates in an experimental pilot study testing four different carbon-pricing models. Student Poster Example : Internal Carbon Tax Olivia Capannari, Mark Green, John Jevahirian New Economic Perspectives on Climate Change Policy through Student Posters How it works OUR PROPOSAL FOR AJCU SCHOOLS: Phase in a common carbon tax for all member schools. Begin at $3 per metric ton, and raise in regular increments to 2030 target of $20. Nancy Bertaux, PhD (bertaux@xavier.edu) Professor of Economics and Sustainability, Xavier University Director of BA in Economics Sustainability & Society Director of BSBA in Sustainability: Economics & Management The Class: Environment, Economics & Policy (ECON 421) Analysis of concepts and models concerning economics and the environment, with applications to policy questions. Project work will focus on natural resources or ecosystem services. Required or elective for all sustainability majors at Xavier University. The Project: Spring 2016 project is to create posters on creative economic policies to address environmental degradation and associated social and economic problems. These will be displayed at an upcoming (April 12) Xavier panel discussion on how we will meet the challenge of the recent Paris (COP21) climate targets. The Groups: 1.Internal Carbon Tax 2.Carbon Tax & Renewable Subsidies 3.Cap & Trade, Emissions Markets 4.Sustainability Measurement & Reporting 5.Investment & Divestment Policies 6.Regulation & Enforcement References: 1. Joshua Elliott and Don Fullerton, Can a unilateral carbon tax reduce emissions elsewhere? Resource and Energy Economics 36(1): 6-21. January 2014. 2. CLIMATE (2015): 1-97. Nov. 2015. Web. Feb. 2016. 3. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/business/energy-environment/microsoft-leads-movement-to- offset-emissions-with-internal-carbon-tax.html 4. https://www.microsoft.com/environment/renewable.aspx 5. http://news.yale.edu/2015/12/07/yale-introduces-innovative-carbon-charge-program-20-living- laboratories-around-campus 6. https://www.cdp.net/CDPResults/carbon-pricing-in-the-corporate-world.pdf 7. http://www.technology.org/2015/12/14/as-yale-launches-carbon-charge-study-fes-eyes-learning- opportunities/ 8. https://issuu.com/climateaction/docs/sif15_post_event_report_v7 References: 1. Joshua Elliott and Don Fullerton, Can a unilateral carbon tax reduce emissions elsewhere? Resource and Energy Economics 36(1): 6-21. January 2014. 2. CLIMATE (2015): 1-97. Nov. 2015. Web. Feb. 2016. 3. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/business/energy-environment/microsoft-leads-movement-to- offset-emissions-with-internal-carbon-tax.html 4. https://www.microsoft.com/environment/renewable.aspx 5. http://news.yale.edu/2015/12/07/yale-introduces-innovative-carbon-charge-program-20-living- laboratories-around-campus 6. https://www.cdp.net/CDPResults/carbon-pricing-in-the-corporate-world.pdf 7. http://www.technology.org/2015/12/14/as-yale-launches-carbon-charge-study-fes-eyes-learning- opportunities/ 8. https://issuu.com/climateaction/docs/sif15_post_event_report_v7