The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said March 15 that the United States and Canada lag behind many other counties in their use of environmental taxes to reduce pollution while raising government revenues. The comments were a part of the organization’s release of its Environmental Outlook to 2050, which makes policy recommendations to help countries reduce emissions and other pollution with potentially harmful climate and health impacts. As of 2009, OECD countries were collecting almost $700 billion from environmentally related taxes. The organization recommends a complementary measure approach, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, increasing environmental taxes, improving toxic chemical knowledge, and creating stronger chemical regulations.