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Exactly, the point of carbon taxes is that everybody gets a choice. You'll eat less meat, I'll drive around less. It's the least-ideological solution.
by tomp 6y ago
Exactly, the point of carbon taxes is that everybody gets a choice. You'll eat less meat, I'll drive around less. It's the least-ideological solution.
- JauntTrooper 6y agoI think a carbon tax is one of the most efficient solutions available, but it's proven to be very ideological since the burden of consumption taxes tends to fall on people with lower income. They're very unpopular, and few countries have been able to implement them successfully. It's still worth trying to pursue a more popular version of a carbon tax because of how efficient they are, but we need to acknowledge their political shortcomings. Perhaps we could pair a carbon tax with an annual distribution of revenue raised to everyone - a carbon bonus - so people see a direct benefit too instead of just the tax. Regardless we need to explore other solutions too, since it's not going to be enough to stop the climate from destabilizing further.
- tomp 6y agoYeah that's why I wrote "revenue-neutral". I've no desire to finance even more corruption and wars. The only goal is to penalize carbon and incentivize less carbon.
- triceratops 6y ago> Perhaps we could pair a carbon tax with an annual distribution of revenue raised to everyone Pretty much this. Use it to fund UBI maybe. The Canadian province of British Columbia collects a carbon tax and reduces income taxes by a commensurate amount.[1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_carbon_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_carbon_tax
- triceratops 6y agoAgreed. I think we should all focus our energy on that instead of refusing to work together unless the other person supports our specific set of solutions (nuclear power, ending capitalism, whatever).