Merkel Weighs Carbon Tax for Germany to Speed Pollution Cuts

Germany is considering whether to impose a tax on carbon pollution or push to expand the existing European market in an effort to speed up the pace of reducing greenhouse gases.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for putting a price on the emissions from industries such as transport and buildings that are outside the European Union’s carbon trading program. It isn’t a matter of whether, but how Germany will make the move, she indicated in a little-reported April podcast.

Angela Merkel

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Lawmakers in Berlin this week debated the implications of Merkel’s announcement, with some cautioning about the strain it would ...