Can Pigou at the Polls Stop Us Melting the Poles?

Soren Anderson, Ioana Marinescu and Boris Shor

No 26146, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Surveys show majority U.S. support for a carbon tax. Yet none has been adopted. Why? We study two failed carbon tax initiatives in Washington State in 2016 and 2018. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we show that Washington's real-world campaigns reduced support by 20 percentage points. Resistance to higher energy prices explains opposition to these policies in the average precinct, while ideology explains 90% of the variation in votes across precincts. Conservatives preferred the 2016 revenue-neutral policy, while liberals preferred the 2018 green-spending policy. Yet we forecast both initiatives would fail in other states, demonstrating that surveys are overly optimistic.

JEL-codes: D72 H23 H71 H72 Q52 Q54 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-pub
Note: EEE PE POL
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

Published as Soren Anderson & Ioana Marinescu & Boris Shor, 2023. "Can Pigou at the Polls Stop Us Melting the Poles?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol 10(4), pages 903-945.

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Journal Article: Can Pigou at the Polls Stop Us Melting the Poles? (2023)
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