When policy experts debate climate change solutions, they often talk about “a price on carbon”. They are arguing about whether companies should pay when they put carbon pollution in the air. But here's the secret that most people seem to be missing: There already is a price on carbon, and it's paid by the taxpayers.
Carbon pollution, like every other form of pollution, has an impact on the environment. Throwing waste into a river will cause the fish to die and the people who drink the water to get sick. And when you produce carbon pollution, you get climate change — sea level rise, stronger storms, severe droughts, damage to agriculture, and more.
All of those impacts cost money. Insurance rates go up when storms get more destructive. Taxes increase when cities have to rebuild bridges and roads. Military budgets go up when droughts and population changes cause conflicts. Not to mention impacts on agriculture and health care costs.
In other words, the price on carbon is what we all pay when there is no market force to limit the pollution that causes climate change. So the debate is really about who will pay that price — the companies who are making a profit from the fossil fuels, or the taxpayers who pick up the cost now.
Right now, we have private profit and public cost. It's just like if we allowed every business to throw its garbage in the street because it's too expensive to have it moved away properly. Does it add a little bit to your dinner check to require that restaurants throw away their trash properly? Sure. But it would be more expensive for you if the city had to clean the streets of their garbage every day. So just like we put a “price on garbage” we need a “price on carbon pollution”. Now, a “price on carbon pollution” can mean a lot of things.
You could tax companies based on the amount of carbon pollution they produce, and return the money to taxpayers. You could put a limit on how much they can produce, thereby requiring them to invest in ways to conduct business in a less polluting way.
语篇解读：谁该为碳污染买单？是企业还是纳税者？实际上纳税者已经在为碳污染买单，这似乎是人们忽视了的一个秘密。政策专家希望公司为碳污染买单。
1．What do the policy experts argue about carbon pollution?
A．Whether taxpayers could get profit from it.
B．Whether the companies should pay for it.
C．Who have the ability to change it.
D．How much should be paid for it.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第一段中的“They are arguing about whether companies should pay”可知，政策专家讨论的是公司是否应为碳污染买单。
2．What's the main idea of Paragraph 2?
A．Some other forms of pollution.
B．The effects of carbon pollution.
C．The signs of carbon pollution.
D．The way to reduce carbon pollution.
解析：选B 段落大意题。第二段第一句“Carbon pollution, like every other form of pollution, has an impact on the environment”为该段的主题句，所以该段主要讲碳污染的影响。
3．The author referred to restaurants in the passage mainly to ________.
A．prove every business doesn't perform its duty
B．warn readers to protect the environment around
C．explain the damage of no policy on carbon pollution
D．show some restaurants throw away their trash randomly
解析：选C 推理判断题。由倒数第二段中的“So just like we put a ‘price on garbage’ we need a ‘price on carbon pollution’”可知，作者谈及饭店是为了说明没有有效政策来约束碳污染的危害。
4．According to the passage, what does the “price on carbon pollution” mean?
A．Telling the taxpayers to refuse to pay taxes on carbon pollution.
B．Making the government invest to reduce carbon pollution.
C．Increasing prices of the products from companies.
D．Taxing companies on carbon pollution they produce.
解析：选D 推理判断题。通读全文，尤其是最后一段可知，作者建议向排放碳的公司征税，故D项正确。
