French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently announced a carbon tax plan aimed at fighting global warming and to “save the human race”. The carbon tax will apply to personal households as well as businesses and enterprises and covers the use of oil, gas and coal. The tax will be €17 (US$24.80) per metric ton of carbon dioxide.
As almost 90% of the electrical power generation in France is nuclear, with a low carbon signature, the tax is not applied to electrical power consumption. It actually works out to be around Euro 0.04 (US$0.06) per litre of gasoline (US$0.15 per US gallon), in terms of price increase at the petrol pumps.
Response to the carbon tax announcement has been divided with more than two thirds of French voters opposed to the idea. However, notable climate change scientists and activists, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore, have long advocated for a carbon tax (as opposed to a cap and trade system) as the best option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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