Marie J. French reports at Politico reports that Cynthia Nixon, a Democrat running for governor, has a large carbon tax at the center of her energy policy, with a goal to eliminate all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Nixon's campaign has cited a study by researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a carbon tax starting of $35 per ton in 2021 and rising to $75 per ton in 2030 that would produce $7 billion in revenues that could go to taxpayers switching from natural gas to solar or geothermal energy. Nixon campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said the tax on fossil fuels could be even larger, with one current bill in the state Legislature, NY A107 (17R), that goes as high as $185 per ton. Currently, all but six of the 26 jurisdictions with a carbon price in the world are at levels below $36 per ton, according to the World Bank. And in Washington state in the U.S., voters are considering a tax starting at $15 per ton in November. “Cuomo put into place a nation-leading clean energy standard that mandates 50 percent of New York’s grid come from renewable energy by 2030,” said Cuomo campaign spokesperson Lis Smith in a statement. “The goal is to transition to 100 percent renewable energy, which is why he ordered NYSERDA to issue a thorough report that lays out the roadmap and timeline to implement it.” Read the full story at Politico.