• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.275-298
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• 2003

This paper compares the economic effects of climate policy options in Korea. The impacts and implications of carbon and Btu tax schemes are analyzed using the META Net modeling system, which was developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Findings indicate that carbon tax is more cost effective compared to Btu tax, but this does not necessarily mean the former is more desirable than the latter. Energy market stability and national energy security is equally important in choosing policy options. Moreover Btu tax is more effective in reducing energy consumption in general. It reduces not only carbon intensive energy sources, but non-fossil fuel like electricity. Korean economy consumes too much energy and energy efficiency is very low compared to other OECD countries. So the reduction of energy demand growth should be the first priority of the national energy policy in Korea.