Should we do something really stupid instead of something really really stupid?

Exxon favors carbon tax over cap and trade for CO2 curbs - MarketWatch

[Exxon Mobil CEO Rex] Tillerson said Exxon Mobil supports a carbon tax to curb greenhouse gases rather than a cap and trade system. "A carbon tax strikes us as a more direct, transparent and effective approach," said Tillerson. "It is easier to apply globally, avoids the establishment of new markets for trading emissions and new regulators to monitor them, can be implemented through the existing tax infrastructure and made revenue neutral to mitigate the impact on the economy."

UPDATE: ExxonMobil CEO Urges CO2 Tax, Not Cap-And-Trade Law

"My greatest concern is that policy makers will attempt to mandate or ordain solutions that are doomed to fail," such as a cap-and-trade system, Tillerson said in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center here.

"A carbon tax would be a more direct, transparent and more effective approach, " he said.
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Tillerson said cap-and-trade systems "inevitably introduce unnecessary costs and complexity that undercut their effectiveness," calling it ultimately a " stealth tax." Taking advantage of the current economic crisis caused by a systemic problem failure in the financial houses, the Exxon CEO also raised the specter of more economic toil precipitated by a cap and trade. "This new Wall Street of emission brokers will take the emphasis away from the goal of reducing carbon emission and focus it's attention on price volatility," he said.
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Rising energy prices and a stumbling economy are thought to have played the biggest role in the embarrassing defeat of a climate change bill in the Senate last year. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., withdrew Sen. Barbara Boxer's bill from floor consideration after it was clear that a majority of Senators weren't going to support the estimated $7 trillion measure.

And the failing economy - along with a massive fight over how the income from auctioning emission allowances will be re-distributed between industries - is why many lawmakers have said final passage of climate change bill isn't likely this year.

Pressed by reporters to say what price level Tillerson thought carbon would need to be taxed to activate emission cuts, the oil chief said it would take at least $20 a ton. "It's a question of how much you think the economy is willing to take and how aggressive you want to be," he said.

May '08: Exxon Mobil CEO takes aim at environmentalists

DALLAS -- Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest oil-and-gas company, came out swinging Wednesday against the environmental movement, arguing the science of climate change is far from settled and that his company views it as its "corporate social responsibility" to continue to supply the world with fossil fuels.