BLOOMBERG HEADLINE: The Earth Wants Biden to Keep Gas Prices High.

While consistently high gas prices would encourage more drilling over the long term — not quite the desired outcome from a climate change perspective — imposing a tax to boost the retail price at the pump would eat into consumer demand without incentivizing further supply. Economists Gilbert Metcalf from Tufts and Jason Bordoff from Columbia proposed a tax along these lines in 2007 to stabilize the price of oil. Today, Metcalf argues, “rather than a price-cap on Russian oil, let’s put a $50 tax on it.” Russia would suffer lower revenues, and oil prices would not fall.

Higher energy prices will eat into consumers’ pocketbooks and slow the economy. What’s important for the president to understand is we have no choice. Fossil fuels must become more expensive. Lacking perfect zero-carbon alternatives that we could switch to cheaply at scale, we must recognize that higher energy prices are an inescapable component of any strategy to mitigate climate change.

Related: Let them pump gas: Elitist environmentalists have contempt for working class.