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Taxing negative externalities won't work here; bean counters just add that to the price of business. Only thing that will work is government subsidies to inves
by JohnWhigham 5y ago
Taxing negative externalities won't work here; bean counters just add that to the price of business.
Only thing that will work is government subsidies to invest in cleaner technology and have them rival whatever we give oil companies. We can take the latter away, but we need a lot of baby boomers to die off first; there's too many in power that won't stand for it.
- r00fus 5y agoWhy will taxation (or better yet remove subsidies for extraction) not work? At some price point, the economics of extraction simply don't make sense anymore vs. other means of energy production (see: coal, nuclear). We have an extraction "economy" mainly because of government subsidies and support. And that continuing because extraction industries have corrupted governments.
- JohnWhigham 5y agoNo government on the planet has enough balls to enact enough taxes for it to be worth companies to switch to cleaner energies. That's why it won't work.
- cogman10 5y agoIt will if there are cheaper alternatives. Bean counters still use the cheapest means of production to run business. Burning fossils isn't required for most businesses, it's just the cheapest way to do business. For example, if carbon taxes are high, then all the sudden trains becomes super economical so you can expect a large increase in train shipping vs truck shipping.