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>Despite the falling costs and growing market share of renewable energies, they still lack the killer app: a price on carbon emissions that would expose the fre
by graeme 7y ago
>Despite the falling costs and growing market share of renewable energies, they still lack the killer app: a price on carbon emissions that would expose the frequently hidden costs of fossil fuels. Conventional wisdom holds that Americans, especially, wouldn’t stand for that.
This is why I desperately want a carbon tax above all else. Price in the externalities, to accelerate existing trends in the energy replacement cycle.
I don’t think government can magic a solution into existence (thought basic r snd d funding helps), but it is well within government power to price externalities. We can even lower other taxes that have negative effects but are currently needed for revenue.
We may or may not make it, but such a tax will help speed all of our efforts by growing the reward for non-carbon energy.
- bsmith 7y agoI may be naive, but I think the real problem here isn't Americans per se, but American corporations; once an industry in the states is large enough, taxing it (in any meaningful way) is virtually impossible because of lobbying dollars and backdoor dealings with politicians (e.g. "regulators," lol). Look at sugar, plastic, corn, beef, etc. There are examples a plenty.
- skybrian 7y agoWe're in a world where some auto companies are doing a deal with California for higher efficiency standards, rather than going along with the administration's attempts to lower them. So, I wouldn't assume that all or even most American corporations would fight a carbon tax. It seems like more of a partisan ideological thing?
- graeme 7y agoA bit of both. Corporations can’t lobby for open murder or human sacrifice: they have to hew to popular opinion, as politicians do. PR and propaganda can sway this somewhat, but not in a limitless way. The single biggest factor blocking more urgent action is human nature: we tend to the short term, we like to be comfortable, and we have a hard time imagining things being radically different than they are. I am not saying it’s impossible to convince the populace. I only mean to counter the perception that resistance comes only or even largely from corporations. Iirc correctly americans only have a 10-15% spread on climate issues compared to europeans.
- chris1993 7y agoMotivation for broader action may wait for a climate change Pearl Harbor
- davidw 7y agoAn aspect of this that's really important: Even if you try to reduce your own carbon impact, getting all those calculations right can be tricky. Taxing it makes more carbon-intensive things more expensive, and makes it easier to do something natural: just go with cheaper options. Crucially, this also applies to all the people who wouldn't go to the effort of trying to lower their impact.