3 ms·

With an increase of working from home for white-collar jobs, this means that those who drive the most will have their fuel costs increased. They'll typically be

With an increase of working from home for white-collar jobs, this means that those who drive the most will have their fuel costs increased. They'll typically be commuters and delivery vehicles (e.g. trucks, retail). While some of those may make a comfortable income for their locale, a sizeable portion likely don't. A tax like this is then borne largely by the economically disadvantaged. I'd support a tax like this if there were greener options with similar or cheaper cost to use for the riders (e.g. rail, busses). Unfortunately, the infrastructure just isn't there yet for a vast majority of the US.

vegetablepotpie 5y ago
Right, and we also don’t have options and infrastructure because we haven’t had incentives to create it in the first place. It’s a bit of a chicken and the egg problem. Carbon pricing would fall disproportionately on the poor, as most changes to society do. But then again, the effects of climate change would also fall disproportionately on the poor. What’s going to be worse?
- Cycl0ps 5y ago
  If I'm understanding the numbers in this thread, wouldn't the idea that the carbon tax funds some UBI program mean that poor families would see a net benefit. Taking the numbers from parent posts and assuming a Google search saying the US puts out 5bn tons of CO2 a year is right, each person would be looking at around $250/year. With an additional 19¢/gal that UBI would cover the tax of 1'300 gallons of gas. Unless you travel 40'000+ miles a year it should be a net positive there. Entirely back of the napkin of course, other costs will skew the numbers. But so long as we have both the tax and the redistribution in place it should balance year over year.
  - vegetablepotpie 5y ago
    Those are good calculations. The bill says people will get monthly payments, so cash flow will be a small issue for most people. I think the biggest issue will be manufactured opposition. The green new deal had majority conservative support until Fox News lambasted it down to 35% support [1], and if conservative outlets pound on gas prices going up, carbon dividends will face stiff opposition. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Green_New_Deal&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop#Environmental_justice https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Green_New_Deal&mo...

vegetablepotpie 5y ago

Right, and we also don’t have options and infrastructure because we haven’t had incentives to create it in the first place. It’s a bit of a chicken and the egg problem. Carbon pricing would fall disproportionately on the poor, as most changes to society do. But then again, the effects of climate change would also fall disproportionately on the poor. What’s going to be worse?

Cycl0ps 5y ago
If I'm understanding the numbers in this thread, wouldn't the idea that the carbon tax funds some UBI program mean that poor families would see a net benefit. Taking the numbers from parent posts and assuming a Google search saying the US puts out 5bn tons of CO2 a year is right, each person would be looking at around $250/year. With an additional 19¢/gal that UBI would cover the tax of 1'300 gallons of gas. Unless you travel 40'000+ miles a year it should be a net positive there. Entirely back of the napkin of course, other costs will skew the numbers. But so long as we have both the tax and the redistribution in place it should balance year over year.
- vegetablepotpie 5y ago
  Those are good calculations. The bill says people will get monthly payments, so cash flow will be a small issue for most people. I think the biggest issue will be manufactured opposition. The green new deal had majority conservative support until Fox News lambasted it down to 35% support [1], and if conservative outlets pound on gas prices going up, carbon dividends will face stiff opposition. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Green_New_Deal&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop#Environmental_justice https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Green_New_Deal&mo...