Azerbaijani officials appear to buy into the idea that taxation policy can be an effective way of managing the environment...Problems range from pollution of the Caspian-Sea’s coastline to large-scale deforestation and inadequate wastewater treatment facilities. Azerbaijani environmental specialists name the oil-and-gas sector, petro-chemical factories, large-scale corporate farms, and cement and concrete plants as among the worst polluters...And now officials plan to do more via a “green tax” on companies that pollute...The tax would be paid directly into the state budget rather than into the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources...Azerbaijani environmental activists welcome the idea. With Azerbaijan’s industrial output regaining some muscle and gas production on the rise, they argue that it is time to do more to encourage Azerbaijani companies to use cleaner technologies and to develop a “green economy.”