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How about investing in lobbying? If $10B were sent to politicians, perhaps they’d implement a carbon tax? The future of the world is presently in the hands of
by ttul 8y ago
How about investing in lobbying? If $10B were sent to politicians, perhaps they’d implement a carbon tax?
The future of the world is presently in the hands of pasty white men on Capitol Hill. Why not sequester their carbon (hot air) first?
- ISL 8y agoWashington State is voting this week on a carbon tax. That future is now, should voters choose it.
- TeMPOraL 8y agoHow this is not on top of HN for the past month? It's not the first time I see a comment like "actually, a $critical-legislation is under vote this/next week somewhere". It feels that the important cases lack marketing.
- ISL 8y agoPolitics are generally decremented on the front page. It's not just N, but rather HN, after all. It is news, though. It is the second time that a carbon tax has been on the Washington ballot. It may pass this time around.
- philipkglass 8y agoIt may, but the last one lost by a pretty decisive margin. I have received a half dozen large glossy mailers funded by oil companies urging me to vote no on 1631, and have seen zero mail advertising for "yes." Which gets back to the fact that there's little lobbying/advertising money for curbing emissions and a lot of money spent against curbing emissions.
- jaggederest 8y agoAgreed. I think the highest leverage at this point is actually in political realms, when it comes to climate change. It's just infuriating that a $100/ton tax could fix the problem in a perfectly reasonable manner and government has their head in the sand.
- ForHackernews 8y agoI thought the recent UN report was saying that we'd need more like a $5,000/ton tax at this late stage. Here's a right wing source: https://www.heritage.org/energy-economics/commentary/un-climate-report-merely-blueprint-destroying-the-world-economy https://www.heritage.org/energy-economics/commentary/un-clim... > To accomplish such a feat, the new IPCC report proposes an energy tax of epic proportions. It claims that, to keep warming in check, by 2030 we’ll need to impose a tax of between $135 and $5,500 on every ton of carbon emitted. And that’s just for starters. By the end of the century, the authors say, we’ll have to jack the tax up to as much as $27,000 per ton. The denialists have stalled for so long that it's too late for anything except drastic emergency actions, and then they complain that the drastic actions are too extreme. Personally, I think we're doomed but we owe it to future generations to at least try.
- aurelwu 8y agoThose numbers are definitely inflated, even at current stage Direct Air Capture Technology is already at well below 1000 Dollar per metric tonne with an outlook to end up below 100 Dollar per tonne in ~20 years. [0] Not saying that DAC is the ideal approach but I find those numbers you mentioned to be very inplausible. [0] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/cost-plunges-capturing-carbon-dioxide-air https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/cost-plunges-capturi...
- ForHackernews 8y agoI think the idea is that the tax would dis-incentivize emissions, so the cost of capture is irrelevant.
- ttul 8y agoCapture technology becomes automatically profitable if the cost to capture is less than the tax. If my business pays $100/t to emit carbon vs $90/t to capture it, I’ll emit and capture and make a $10/t profit. At $100/t, capture technology would become widespread very very quickly as an arbitrage against the carbon tax. And yes, some emitters might find a more profitable way via reduction in emissions, but since capture is equivalent to reduction, the most profitable option will win out every time. This is the magic of carbon taxes.
- sandworm101 8y agoLol, from this morning's news: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tasker-carbon-tax-plan-trudeau-1.4874258 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tasker-carbon-tax-plan-trud... Some of the future is in the hand on "hands of pasty white men on Capitol Hill". Other parts of the future are in the hands of more enlightened leaders.
- 52-6F-62 8y agoEh, don't worry. This is partly in response to some of the pasty white men in provincial parliaments at present. (Looking at you, Ontario and Manitoba). Thank god the PM & Fed is trying to get on top of it.
- ttul 8y agoIn fact Trudeau will win re-election this way. The carbon tax will be combined with a massive taxpayer credit. People will experience a modest increase in gas prices, but receive a cheque from “Government of Canada” for hundreds of dollars at just the right time in the election cycle. It’s a shrewd, shrewd move.
- biglenny 8y agoReminder to be civil during dialogue.
- prawn 8y agoDoesn't that further a bidding war where the chief winners are sell-out politicians?