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Are the Costs of Reducing Greenhouse Gases from Passenger Vehicles Negative?

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  • Parry, Ian W.H.

    (Resources for the Future)

Abstract
Energy models suggest that the cost of reducing carbon emissions from the transportation sector is high relative to other sectors, such as electricity generation. However, this paper shows that taxes to reduce passenger vehicle emissions produce large net benefits, rather than costs, when account is taken of (a) their impact on reducing non-carbon externalities from passenger vehicle use, and (b) interactions with the broader fiscal system. Both of these considerations also strengthen the case for using a tax-based approach to reduce emissions over fuel economy regulation, while fiscal considerations strengthen the case for taxes over (non-auctioned) emissions permits.

Suggested Citation

  • Parry, Ian W.H., 2006. "Are the Costs of Reducing Greenhouse Gases from Passenger Vehicles Negative?," RFF Working Paper Series dp-06-14-rev, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-06-14-rev
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Carolyn Fischer & Winston Harrington & Ian W.H. Parry, 2007. "Should Automobile Fuel Economy Standards be Tightened?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 1-30.
    2. Proost, Stef & Van Dender, Kurt, 2012. "Energy and environment challenges in the transport sector," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 77-87.
    3. Santos, Georgina & Behrendt, Hannah & Maconi, Laura & Shirvani, Tara & Teytelboym, Alexander, 2010. "Part I: Externalities and economic policies in road transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 2-45.
    4. Chen, Guifu & Wei, Boyu, 2024. "Low-carbon city pilots and site selection for migrant employment: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    5. Tsuyoshi Toshimitsu, 2008. "On Environmental Subsidy/Tax Policy with Heterogeneous Consumers: An Application of an Environmentally Differentiated Duopoly Model," Discussion Paper Series 38, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University, revised Apr 2008.
    6. Gusdorf, Francois & Hallegatte, Stephane, 2007. "Compact or spread-out cities: Urban planning, taxation, and the vulnerability to transportation shocks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4826-4838, October.
    7. Toshimitsu, Tsuyoshi, 2010. "On the paradoxical case of a consumer-based environmental subsidy policy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 159-164, January.
    8. Van Dender, Kurt, 2009. "Energy policy in transport and transport policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 3854-3862, October.
    9. Soren T. Anderson & Ian W. H. Parry & James M. Sallee & Carolyn Fischer, 2011. "Automobile Fuel Economy Standards: Impacts, Efficiency, and Alternatives," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 5(1), pages 89-108, Winter.
    10. Ovaere, Marten & Proost, Stef, 2022. "Cost-effective reduction of fossil energy use in the European transport sector: An assessment of the Fit for 55 Package," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    11. Santos, Georgina, 2017. "Road fuel taxes in Europe: Do they internalize road transport externalities?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 120-134.
    12. Fu, Miao & Andrew Kelly, J., 2012. "Carbon related taxation policies for road transport: Efficacy of ownership and usage taxes, and the role of public transport and motorist cost perception on policy outcomes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 57-69.
    13. Kok, Robert & Annema, Jan Anne & van Wee, Bert, 2011. "Cost-effectiveness of greenhouse gas mitigation in transport: A review of methodological approaches and their impact," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7776-7793.
    14. Solhee Kim & Taegon Kim & Timothy M. Smith & Kyo Suh, 2018. "Environmental Implications of Eco-Labeling for Rice Farming Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-19, April.
    15. Giblin, S. & McNabola, A., 2009. "Modelling the impacts of a carbon emission-differentiated vehicle tax system on CO2 emissions intensity from new vehicle purchases in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1404-1411, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    carbon policies; passenger vehicles; externalities; welfare costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

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