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Want the World to Exit Fossil Fuels Use? Impose Carbon Tax, Suggest Tesla’s Elon Musk

By Kanika Gupta | Update Date: Dec 04, 2015 02:33 PM EST

As the negotiations between world leaders and the policy makers are in full swing for climate negotiations in Paris, Elon Musk, serial entrepreneur, appealed to the younger lot that it is their initiative that will save the world from the perils of global warming. According to Musk, only a carbon tax, not conservation or renewable energy will be able expedite the transition from carbon producing fossil fuels to a more sustainable energy. "I think you have tremendous power-you have the power to make change," Musk said to his students during a conference in Sorbonne in Paris, located at a short distance from the climate change conference in Paris, reports Fortune.

Musk, propagator of the carbon tax said that the tax should be revenue neutral and should be implemented in phased manner. Revenue neutral tax is when the governments will still receive the same amount of money even though the tax code will change. As per Musk's recommendation, the taxes should be weighted on carbon and should be reduced in other areas. For example, the higher taxes being imposed on cigarettes and alcohol than vegetables and fruits, as reported by Tree Hugger.

Elon Musk has been working on the cause of climate change as he is known to have built up a car that uses alternative means of energy such as gasoline and diesel. He promotes the battery technology extensively and is a chairman of solar energy company. He took the stage in Sorbonne as he spoke around the same time as the Paris Climate conference to push for the carbon tax. "It is inevitable that we will exit the fossil fuels era, because at some point we will simply run out of carbon to mine or burn," Musk said. "So the question is really when do we exit the era, not if. The goal is to exit the era as quickly as possible," said Quartz.

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