THE IDEAL CONSERVATIVE PROGRAM: RETAINING SOVEREIGNTY; TAXING CONSUMPTION; FORCING INNOVATION

Global Warming Is a Real Problem: The Kyoto accords aren't the solution (Anne Applebaum, Feb. 6, 2007, Slate)

Any real, lasting solutions will have to be extremely simple, and--because of the high cost implicit in reducing the use and emissions of fossil fuels--will also have to benefit those countries that impose them in other ways. Fortunately, there is such a solution, one that is grippingly unoriginal, requires no special knowledge of economics, and is extremely easy for any country to apply. It's called a carbon tax, and it should be applied across the board to every industry that uses fossil fuels, every home or building with a heating system, every motorist, and every public transportation system. Immediately, it would produce a wealth of innovations designed to save fuel, as well as new incentives to conserve. More to the point, it would produce a big chunk of money that could be used for other things. Anyone for balancing the budget? Fixing Social Security for future generations? Cutting income tax dramatically? As a little foreign-policy side benefit, users of the tax would suddenly find themselves less dependent on Gulf oil or Russian gas.

Most of all, though, the successful use of carbon taxes does not require "American leadership," or a U.N. committee, or indeed any complicated international effort of any kind. It can be done country by country: If the British environment minister or the German chancellor wants to go ahead with it tomorrow or the next day, nothing is stopping them. If a future U.S. president wants to call on the nation to rally around a truly patriotic and noble cause, then he or she has the perfect opportunity.