Bill Nye Is Holding Out Hope For A 'Carbon Fee' In The U.S.

Efforts in the U.S. to impose a tax on the production of carbon that warms the planet have so far proven fruitless, but climate change crusader Bill Nye is still holding out hope.

The "Science Guy," who joined HuffPost Live on Monday to discuss his book Unstoppable, told host Josh Zepps that he prefers to call it a "carbon fee" because of the American stigma on taxes.

Plus, the breadth of the IRS makes putting a price on carbon realistic and attainable.

"We have the system to collect it," Nye said. "We have the Internal Revenue Service. It's a bureaucracy that exists. People love to hate it. People also love to not die. But there's two things you can count on: death and taxes. So we could do this if we we're motivated. I'm a big supporter of it. I strongly believe it would change the world."

Nye explained that the high cost of such a fee on carbon would force changes in many industries, from transportation to agriculture to meat production, creating a domino effect of environmental consciousness.

"The price of meat would go way up, or up a little bit. People would be less motivated to buy expensive meat. Ranchers who produce the meat would now do it in a less carbon-producing or methane-producing way. Everybody would be motivated to do more with less, to do a better job," Nye said.

Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation with Bill Nye here.

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