Christopher Flavelle, Columnist

Does Pricing Carbon Worsen Inequality? It Doesn't Have To

It's Republicans' best argument against fighting climate change. And it doesn't quite hold up.

Not a typical outcome.

Photograph: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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Faced with a barrage of Democratic policies to combat climate change, Republicans have long sought a non-ridiculous justification for resisting. They haven't quite nailed it.

The earth can't be getting warmer, because some days are cold and here is a snowball. OK, maybe the earth is getting warmer, but certainly not because of humans. (How very pretentious of you to suggest otherwise.) Fine, maybe human behavior has something to do with it -- but a carbon tax can't possibly change people's behavior. (Unlike income and investment taxes, which should be cut because they obviously do change people's behavior. That's different.)