Congressional Budget Office Releases Findings on CO2 Emissions from Passenger Vehicles

A report from the Congressional Budget Office reveals that taxing CO2 emissions through a cap and-trade system would result in a small decrease in vehicles miles traveled.

The report from the Congressional Budget Office is titled “Climate-Change Policy and CO2 Emissions from Passenger Vehicles.” It examines the contribution of U.S. passenger vehicles to greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions are a major contributor to climate change throughout the world.

The report reveals that taxing CO2 through a cap-and-trade system would result in higher gas prices, increasing by about 20 cents pre gallon in 2009 to 40 cents a gallon in 2018. But it reports that unless the price of gas rose to $6.50 a gallon, it is unlikely that drivers would alter driving. A few would switch to public transportation, but many would have no alternatives.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, “Recent changes to fuel economy standards – greatly increasing their stringency – will result in a substantial decline in vehicle emissions whether gasoline prices increase or not.”

The report says it’s likely consumers would respond by purchasing more fuel efficient
vehicles, and suggests that recent changes to automotive fuel economy standards will result in a decline in vehicle emissions without the implementation of a CO2 tax.
“...a CO2 price high enough to induce sizable reductions from other sources of emissions would have only a small effect on vehicle emissions of CO2,” states the report.

The continuing redesign of passenger vehicles will result in more fuel efficient cars, the report states, saying “New fuel-efficient technologies will, in turn, create additional opportunities for reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and stabilizing Earth’s climate.”

View full report:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9901/10-27-PresentationWellesley.pdf