12:30pm-1:30pm
WCC 1015 | Harvard Law School
Join the Center for Labor and a Just Economy for a book talk with Daniel Driscoll, author of “Why Carbon Taxes Failed” and Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, moderated by Max Kiefel, Associate Director of Innovation at CLJE. For decades, carbon taxes reigned as the most important global strategy for decarbonization—a seemingly simple, market-based solution to one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Yet despite the tax’s prominence, our planet is still warming, and carbon taxation has frequently devolved into political spectacle, from the tear-gassed streets of Paris to abandoned proposals languishing in government archives. This book interrogates the foundational flaw of carbon tax policymaking. Drawing on global archives and conversations with policymakers and activists, Driscoll argues that carbon taxes failed because they relied on a politics of wishful thinking: governments hoped a simple market signal would save them from the unavoidable job of strategic investment, hard choices, and planning for the future with eyes wide open.
Featured Speaker
Daniel Driscoll, Author of “Why Carbon Taxes Failed” and Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Virginia
Moderator
Max Kiefel, Associate Director of Innovation at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy
