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Cut to invest: institute a modest carbon tax to reduce carbon emissions, finance clean energy technology development, cut taxes, and reduce the deficit / Mark Muro &#38; Jonathan Rothwell, Brookings Institution, November 2012, 9 p.http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/11/13-carbon-taxThe [american] nation should institute a modest carbon tax in order to help clean up the economy and stabilize the nation’s finances. Specifically, Congress and the president should implement a $20 per ton, steadily increasing carbon excise fee that would discourage carbon dioxide emissions while shifting taxation onto pollution, financing energy efficiency (EE) and clean technology development, and providing opportunities to cut taxes or reduce the deficit. The net effect of these policies would be to curb harmful carbon emissions, improve the nation’s balance sheet, and stimulate job-creation and economic renewal. (© Brookings)&#160;