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> They will once their taxes start going up. We can use a relatively small amount public funds to make targeted investments in electric grid infrastructure and

> They will once their taxes start going up. We can use a relatively small amount public funds to make targeted investments in electric grid infrastructure and scaling PV solar and storage. That will drive costs down and coal will disappear without any need for new taxes. Heck, even if we don't make any public investments to accelerate the process, it will happen soon (< 10y). Coal is on its way out as a fuel for electric powerplants. > Air travel should be restricted, or at the very least taxed in proportion to its emissions, because it's cheap, easy to implement, and doesn't impact the survival of millions of people, whereas increasing the price of electricity in developing countries does. Soon enough, either microgrid PV solar and storage or utility-scale PV solar and storage will be cheaper than coal, even in developing countries. Microgrid PV solar and storage is especially attractive in developing countries where the electric grid is typically unreliable. I do agree that the emissions costs of air travel should be internalized to the ticket price, but the regulation needs to leave enough room to allow airlines to avoid emission taxes by using carbon-neutral fuel.

mrpopo 7y ago
> the regulation needs to leave enough room to allow airlines to avoid emission taxes by using carbon-neutral fuel. Where exactly do you expect this carbon neutral fuel to come from? Fuel=energy, and energy doesn't grow on trees. Well technically biofuel can grow on trees but whatever. What seems to be forgotten by many "optimistic" folks is that we NEED to cut emissions TODAY, and reduce them by ~7% a year for the next 30 years, to avoid catastrophic warming and feedback loops. By many measures, today is already too late. Now tell me how we are going to turn these planes carbon neutral today, or even next year, without turning to hypothetical abundant solar energy that will turn atmospheric CO2 into fuel, or turning half of Indonesia's rainforest into palm trees (note that this is not CO2 neutral at all, land change use is one of the biggest culprits today). The only solution available today is grounding some of those planes. They can take off again when magical carbon neutral fuel is abundant enough that we can afford using it to fly at 850km/h.

mrpopo 7y ago

> the regulation needs to leave enough room to allow airlines to avoid emission taxes by using carbon-neutral fuel. Where exactly do you expect this carbon neutral fuel to come from? Fuel=energy, and energy doesn't grow on trees. Well technically biofuel can grow on trees but whatever. What seems to be forgotten by many "optimistic" folks is that we NEED to cut emissions TODAY, and reduce them by ~7% a year for the next 30 years, to avoid catastrophic warming and feedback loops. By many measures, today is already too late. Now tell me how we are going to turn these planes carbon neutral today, or even next year, without turning to hypothetical abundant solar energy that will turn atmospheric CO2 into fuel, or turning half of Indonesia's rainforest into palm trees (note that this is not CO2 neutral at all, land change use is one of the biggest culprits today). The only solution available today is grounding some of those planes. They can take off again when magical carbon neutral fuel is abundant enough that we can afford using it to fly at 850km/h.