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> This is why taxing carbon is better policy than patchwork regulations. I don't think so. We are way past the economic incentives or the market efficiency th

• graeme 8y ago
  Who has the power to outlaw carbon globally? Those with energy have the power, and currently carbon is where our energy is. I don't see a ban working. Further, our whole systemis dependent on carbon. Millions (billions?) would starve without it, along with other downsides. Future impacts will be worse if we don't stop, but tell that to people suffering today. The advantage of a carbon tax approach is that it uses market incentives to encourage investments in alternatives. Hopefully, we are able to discover viable alternatives via this method, otherwise we're done for either way. A command and control shutdown simply seems impossible. Maybe carbon taxes are too, but I feel a tax and dividend approach could work, as everyone gets money from it. Or a proposal to tax carbon and massively cut income taxes. The yellow jacket protests you cite: 1. Didn't have any return of money to taxpayers. It was just a tax hike. 2. Would be even worse if fuel were banned
  • johnchristopher 8y ago
    Actually Diesel car are going to be banned pretty soon in some European countries. I do not entirely disagree with the principle that a hard tax carbon could alleviate the symptoms. But... No matter the solution, it's just too late for humanity to implement it globally.
    • graeme 8y ago
      That's easy to do though, as there are viable alternatives. To be clear, I do think specific bans like a non-electric vehicle ban can be good policy. But they're not the same as "outlawing carbon". Overall, global, carbon use it up, and the reason is that individuals find it profitable, at the margins, to use more of it.