Newswise — Tufts professor of economics Gilbert Metcalf is a source for ongoing coverage of Climate Change. He's an expert on tax policy and climate change, particularly carbon emissions. He has analyzed both the cap-and-trade system and the carbon tax as policies that would reduce carbon emissions.His ideas were the basis for America's Energy Security Trust Fund Act, legislation that would have imposed a carbon tax on companies that produce fossil fuels. The revenue fund would be used primarily to fund a reduction in the payroll tax.

Professor Metcalf has expert insight into the importance of federal tax policy for shaping energy investment policy in the United States. In March, he testified before the House Ways and means Committee during hearings on price volatility of climate change legislation. Here's a link to the hearing: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=668. It may be good background material.

His testimony covered several key points:

* Factors that cause price volatility

* The effect of cost containment provisions

* The advantages of implementing a carbon tax using the existing

tax structure of the Internal Revenue Service

In addition, he testified before the Senate Finance Committee in April on energy technology neutrality.

http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing042309.htm

Metcalf is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is also a Research Associate at the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change at MIT. Professor Metcalf is knowledgeable, thoughtful and quotable, and he'd be a worthwhile resource for you. He is normally quite accessible. For more information on his credentials go to http://ase.tufts.edu/econ/faculty/metcalf.asp.

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