The Economists’ Statement on Carbon Dividends is a joint statement signed by over 3,500 U.S. economists promoting a carbon dividends framework for U.S. climate policy.
The statement was organized by the Climate Leadership Council and originally published on January 16, 2019 in The Wall Street Journal with 45 signatories, including Nobel Prize winning economists, former chairs of the Federal Reserve, former chairs of the Council of Economic Advisors, and former secretaries of the Treasury Department.
[3][4][5] The statement recognizes an immediate need for climate action and offers five policy recommendations:[1] The statement was praised for the spectrum of economic thought and political opinion represented by its signatories.
Former Harvard University President and U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers called the statement’s proposal “one of the few ideas of economic policy that commands broad, bipartisan support.”[2] The Chicago Booth Review noted that it was “perhaps the closest that the economics profession has ever come to a consensus.”[6] Former chair of the Federal Reserve and the CEA Janet Yellen praised the statement for its broader political implications, saying it “represents a major tipping point in U.S. climate policy.”[7]
The original forty-five signers of the statement were (sorted alphabetically):[1]