Sociologist Monica Prasad argues that a carbon tax won't reduce carbon emissions unless the revenues are directed back to industry for non-carbon research. I have my doubts; there's a long history of government subsidies for energy and technology not doing much good. But I could be wrong. Still, if zero percent of the carbon tax revenues are used to cut other taxes, you're going to end up with a very highly taxed economy, and that's not such a good thing either.
UPDATE: Some interesting, and mostly skeptical, responses from Charles Komanoff of the Carbon Tax Center, and economist Andrew Samwick.
