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There is sadly a fix for that, which is to lift carbon tax and relax requirements for having carbon sequestration systems - and coal would be quite cheap again.
by noselasd 10y ago
There is sadly a fix for that, which is to lift carbon tax and relax requirements for having carbon sequestration systems - and coal would be quite cheap again.
- stevenleeg 10y agoWhy would we ever do that? Remember that the untaxed price of coal isn't a real price for it. Without a tax the market does not take the externality of its environmental effect into an account. Economically speaking, a high tax on coal/other fossil fuels is simply forcing the market to consider its full and actual price.
- noselasd 10y ago> Why would we ever do that? I don't know, but there is soon to be a new president who says he wants to support the coal industry.
- harmegido 10y agoI'm very confused by this conversation. What taxes are you guys talking about? They don't exist as far as I'm aware. I am aware of some subsidies, but not taxes on specifically carbon/coal/etc.
- drited 10y agoI'd guess he's talking about this: http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets_en http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets_en P.S. I agree about the comment regarding negative externalities not being accounted for unless something like this is in place.
- jartelt 10y agoWe don't have a carbon tax in the US and we don't have requirements for carbon sequestration systems. Yet, the coal industry is still contracting. Now you could remove the regulations that require limiting emissions of things like mercury and NOX and SOX and it would make coal cheaper. But people really don't like acid rain or mercury in their water. Coal is already phasing out and it's because natural gas is cheap and renewables are getting cheaper every year.
- harmegido 10y agoWhere are these carbon taxes? The only one I was aware of was in Australia, but that got repealed.