Excise taxes and tradable permits are the two most highly touted instruments in environmental policy. These market-based approaches, advocated by professional economists and think-tank policy analysts on both the Left and the Right, are often meant to thwart the outcomes of true free-market activity.

Roy E. Cordato is Vice President for Research at the John Locke Foundation and a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute.
Climate ChangeEconomyEnergy and the EnvironmentEnvironmental Law and RegulationFree Market EconomicsNatural ResourcesPollutionPublic Choice
Other Independent Review articles by Roy E. Cordato
Spring 2012 Climate Coup: Global Warming’s Invasion of Our Government and Our Lives
Fall 2009 Climate Change Policies: Challenging the Activists
Winter 2000/01 The Political Economy of Environmental Policy: A Public Choice Approach to Market Instruments