A carbon tax does necessarily hurt the poor

See Carbon Tax Sidelined in Biden’s Push on Climate, Taxes by Greg Ip of The WSJ. Excerpt: 

"But empirical evidence suggests otherwise. California’s carbon market actually narrowed disparities in exposure to particulates, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, according to a study by economists Danae Hernandez-Cortes and Kyle Meng of the University of California, Santa Barbara. An older federal program that allows higher-polluting plants to buy offsets from less-polluting plants didn’t disproportionately move pollution to lower-income communities or communities of color, according to a separate study by Joseph Shapiro and Reed Walker, economists at the University of California, Berkeley.

Whether carbon taxes hurt the poor depends on what is done with the revenue. The Climate Leadership Council estimates its carbon tax would finance $2,000 in carbon dividends a year for a family of four, and the 80% lowest-income families end up better off. Regulatory alternatives aren’t necessarily better: renewable-fuel requirements can raise electricity prices and disproportionately hurt poor families who devote more of their budget to power.

Many Democratic politicos have concluded a carbon tax is a political loser with voters opposing it. The question is, compared with what? Progressives’ beloved Green New Deal polls no better. Mr. Biden and Congress have floated a range of incentives, tax credits, regulations and investments aimed at driving down emissions, many of which, individually, are quite popular. But they’re not enough. A new study by Rhodium Group estimates all such measures, combined, wouldn’t put the U.S. electricity sector on a path to net zero by 2035.

So if Mr. Biden is serious about his emissions targets, a carbon price may become harder to avoid. His administration is already considering taxing imports for their carbon content. Without a similar levy on domestically-made goods, the U.S. could face retaliation from trading partners. He also plans to raise taxes, in part to pay for a big boost to the child tax credit, which slashes child poverty. If he wants a tax that helps the poor, defrays the deficit and combats climate change, there is one waiting in the wings."