On February 3, Elon Musk posted a simple message on X: “The only action needed to solve climate change is a carbon tax.” Five days later, that message has over 22 million views. And perhaps for good reason—it’s accompanied by a compelling video titled “Elon Musk’s Unbelievably Simple Killer Break Down on Climate Change,” and the pro-carbon-tax message is easy to grasp.
Musk makes taxing carbon dioxide (CO2) sound straightforward. However, the drawback of his message is that it’s oversimplified because it ignores prominent sticking points in the policy debate over the carbon tax. Specifically, Musk fails to propose the level of the CO2 tax—or even discuss how to derive it—and glosses over the scope and burden of potential CO2 taxes.
To be clear, I respect Elon Musk—he’s a world-changing entrepreneur and steadfast advocate for free speech. Although I oppose the subsidies and mandates for electric vehicles in the United States, I appreciate the renewed competition Musk has brought to the US auto industry with Tesla. He’s also widely considered to be an engineering genius and a (somewhat) libertarian public figure. Depending on the day, he’s also the richest person in the world (or second or third).
For all these reasons, it’s worth digging in when Musk claims to have found a simple solution to one of the most vexing public policy problems in human history: climate change.
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