The idea of a carbon tax provides a whole lot more certainty to industry. Even if it's projected to change, they can identify with what it tells them about the technologies or the procedures and processes they're using, whereas a cap and trade system—especially on something that contains methane or carbon dioxide, which is not at all localized once it gets into the atmosphere—allows a lot more flexibility in the changes from the legislative or the policy side, and adds to what Professor Plourde just referred to as the risk characteristic. Diminishing their perception of risk or the risk they have to face in the marketplace for funding or for continued operations is all to the good.
In that context, this type of problem, fixing on an appropriate, clear, and transparent carbon tax or carbon charge, based on what it takes to neutralize the bad elements of carbon dioxide or methane, is far preferable than a cap and trade system.