3 ms·

A carbon tax, with pay-out for carbon sequestration, will put the very machine that currently drives us towards extinction straight in reverse. Here are the mo

A carbon tax, with pay-out for carbon sequestration, will put the very machine that currently drives us towards extinction straight in reverse. Here are the most impactful things you can do as an individual in a democracy: 1. Convince as many people as you can of voting for anyone who supports carbon tax. 2. Vote for anyone who supports a carbon tax. 3. There is no 3. We need to internalise this negative externality into the very fabric of every transaction we make. By the time you can see a product you have no idea how much carbon was produced to make it. Don't just walk back from the abyss. Drive back in the same car that got us here. (by all means of course reduce your footprint, but don't forget nr 1 & 2. they must be front and centre.)

edejong 7y ago
A carbon tax is probably the worst thing you can do. First of all, it will seriously destabilise a large economy where democracy still plays an influential role. This will place more economic power at the hands of non-democratic nations, allowing them to produce more CO_2 at will. Secondly, the taxed CO_2 will just circulate back to the government, to be spend again. On what? Due to the strong relationship of the dollar with oil, each dollar spend by the government will involve burning oil and producing CO_2. Third, how will you check the CO_2 emissions of your products? How do you prevent fraud? How do you make sure the system is not gamed by shifting the CO_2 burden to other countries? No, if you want to make a dent, vote for those who want to invest heavily in renewables R&D (solar, hydro, wind, thermal).