Continuous emissions measurement can be costly, particularly where there are many separate sources of emissions, and for many pollution problems this may be a major disincentive to direct taxation of emissions.
Environmental taxes based directly on measured emissions can, in principle, be very precisely targeted to the policy’s
environmental objectives. ( ① )
If a firm pollutes more, it pays additional tax directly in proportion to the rise in emissions. ( ② )
The polluter thus has an incentive to reduce emissions in any manner that is less costly per unit of abatement than the tax on each unit of residual emissions. ( ③ )
The great attraction of basing the tax directly on measured emissions is that the actions the polluter can take to reduce tax liability are actions that also reduce emissions. ( ④ )
Nevertheless, the technologies available for monitoring the concentrations and flows of particular substances in waste discharges have been developing rapidly. ( ⑤ )
In the future, it may be possible to think of taxing measured emissions in a wider range of applications. * abatement: 감소 ** liability: 부담액
