Revenues
Impose a Tax on Emissions of Greenhouse Gases
CBO periodically issues a compendium of policy options (called Options for Reducing the Deficit) covering a broad range of issues, as well as separate reports that include options for changing federal tax and spending policies in particular areas. This option appears in one of those publications. The options are derived from many sources and reflect a range of possibilities. For each option, CBO presents an estimate of its effects on the budget but makes no recommendations. Inclusion or exclusion of any particular option does not imply an endorsement or rejection by CBO.
| Billions of Dollars | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2021– 2025 |
2021– 2030 |
| Change in Revenues | 58.2 | 89.9 | 92.1 | 96.6 | 101.8 | 106.2 | 111.4 | 117.9 | 125.1 | 133.4 | 438.6 | 1,032.5 |
Data sources: Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation; Congressional Budget Office.
This option would take effect in January 2021.
An offset to reflect reduced income and payroll taxes has been applied to the estimates in this table.
The accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere—particularly of carbon dioxide (CO2) released when fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and natural gas) are burned—contributes to climate change, which imposes costs and increases the risk of severe economic harm to countries around the globe, including the United States. The federal government regulates some emissions in an effort to reduce them; however, emissions are not directly taxed.
This option would impose a tax of $25 per metric ton on most emissions of greenhouse gases in the United States—specifically, on most energy-related emissions of CO2 (for example, from electricity generation, manufacturing, and transportation) and on some other greenhouse gas emissions from large manufacturing facilities. The tax would increase at a constant real (inflation-adjusted) rate of 5 percent per year.