The late economist Milton Friedman, the patron saint of conservative capitalism, didn’t have much use for government involvement in business. But he made an exception for pollution. If an industry spoils the environment, he often said, then the government should tax it until it cleans up its act. Because if polluters can pollute for free, then they are essentially stealing wealth and well-being from everybody else.
When he said that in the 1960s and ’70s, he was talking about smog and the like. But as scientists and oil companies knew then, and we all know now, carbon dioxide is another form of pollution, one that is heating the world and threatening human civilization. Making polluters pay a price for this negative externality, as Friedman would call it, is an idea that is not only conservative and capitalist and moral but also a boon to both the environment and federal budgets.