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A carbon tax and dividend scheme might be more politically palatable, as it wouldn't be as regressive.
by makerofspoons 7y ago
A carbon tax and dividend scheme might be more politically palatable, as it wouldn't be as regressive.
- mikepurvis 7y agoThis is exactly what the Canadian system is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fee_and_dividend https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fee_and_dividend It's almost certain to be repealed when the current government loses power in this fall's election. :( But the larger point is that when you pay back all the revenues as dividends, then you only get the reduction incentives. Where does the extra cash come from to actually pay for sequestration?
- makerofspoons 7y agoThat is unfortunate. Perhaps government contracts to sequestration companies in order to hit emissions targets could be carved out of existing budgets. I'm from the U.S. and there is certainly money to be diverted. Maybe we just need sequestration contractors in the right districts for certain politicians?
- mikepurvis 7y agoPossibly. But the reality is that if we (either Canada or the US) were looking to "spend money on jobs", there are a million things we could have been hiring people for over the past couple decades, even stuff as simple as infrastructure maintenance and tree planting. Looks like there are projections for a bunch of jobs in the carbon capture industry (eg https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/mar/17/carbon-capture-and-storage-strategy https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/mar/17/carbon-c...), but I'm still hazy on how we're going to find trillions in the general revenue pot to make it happen.