Welcome to Volume 5, Issue 11 of Currents. As we begin a new month. I'll remind everyone that we are continually looking to write about different topics...

In Shift, Oil Industry Group Backs Federal Price on Carbon -

"API also called for fast-tracking commercial deployment of long-sought technology to capture and store carbon emissions, as well as federal regulation of methane emissions from new and existing oil and gas wells, after strongly resisting such regulations proposed by the Obama administration."

Why this is important: A price on carbon would increase the cost of gasoline and other petroleum products. The cost would be passed on to consumers, although some have proposed that taxes received be re-distributed to lower income persons. The purpose of placing a price on carbon is to reduce demand for it, thereby lowering emissions. It is unclear whether demand would be reduced though if low income persons were made whole for their purchases and higher income Americans were willing to pay more at the pump in order to continue their lifestyles.