A few years ago, Austria adopted a climate policy that taxed carbon emissions, but with a twist: The government sent the money back to taxpayers.
The idea was to reduce the use of fossil fuels but keep Austrians spending. If the plan worked, it would make a dent in the country’s greenhouse gas output but not the national economy.
This year a new government scrapped that plan. But only half of it.
Austria’s leaders decided keep the tax but eliminate the rebate payments, which they called the Klimabonus. The decision was a welcome one to supporters of sharper emissions reductions.
Austria is a relatively small country with a relatively light contribution to global emissions. Still, it has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2040, a decade ahead of the European Union target. Its carbon tax plan was meant to be a politically sustainable pillar of that effort.
The goal was to prod people to change their habits, like deciding to drive less and walk or take the bus instead, without denting overall consumer spending or making people furious about higher energy costs. The Klimabonus varied by region, with people receiving more money if they had less access to public transportation, and thus less ability to change their habits. Last year, the annual payment ranged from 145 euros to 290 euros for an adult resident.
Similar tax-and-refund ideas have animated a long line of American climate policy proposals that lawmakers and policy experts have tried push through Congress, going back to the Obama administration.
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The post How a Carbon Tax Plan in Europe Survived (Mostly) appeared first on New York Times.
