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The reason carbon taxes work is because the upper echelons of society are responsible for far, far more carbon dioxide and pollution than the overwhelming major

The reason carbon taxes work is because the upper echelons of society are responsible for far, far more carbon dioxide and pollution than the overwhelming majority of the world's population. Despite what we've been told, the planet won't be saved by worker-bees biking to work. It'll be saved by not having the ultra-wealthy flying everywhere in their private jets, and not spending tens of millions of dollars on multiple homes that are lavishly equipped / use massive quantities of energy to heat and cool / have armies of people keeping them clean and the grounds manicured.

cik2e 5y ago
I'm not here to defend the ultra-wealthy but what you're saying doesn't pass the sniff test. Aviation accounts for just 12% of global CO2 emissions and households account for 21%. Obviously, a very small percentage of that could be attributed to the ultra-wealthy flying around in private jets and owning multiple mansions. On the other hand, a reasonable argument against the wealthy elite would be that they are likely to have the most significant influence on preempting policy that could help deal with climate change. They would have the most vested interest in maintaining the status quo, due to their positions at the head of industry, and their children would suffer the fewest consequences of unmitigated climate change. But then again, there is also a significant number of voters, at least here in the United States, who aren't going to get behind any policy that may cost jobs and increase energy prices in the immediate term. And then there's China, putting out 27% of total global carbon emissions. So as convenient as it would be to just blame the rich, climate change is simply too broad an issue to put on the shoulders of any one group or entity, even China.
- davidw 5y ago
  The nice thing about a carbon tax is we don't have to figure out exactly who is doing what. We just tax it and let things sort themselves out.
  - IntrepidWorm 5y ago
    Things don't just sort out though. Where does that money go? If it goes back into a project that is equally as environmentally destructive, you've just laundered the carbon. Given that the institutions responsible for implementing and enforcing a carbon tax are inextricably linked to the institutions producing some of the highest sources of carbon pollution, I find the proposition that a carbon tax will sort anything out to be unsettling.

cik2e 5y ago

I'm not here to defend the ultra-wealthy but what you're saying doesn't pass the sniff test. Aviation accounts for just 12% of global CO2 emissions and households account for 21%. Obviously, a very small percentage of that could be attributed to the ultra-wealthy flying around in private jets and owning multiple mansions. On the other hand, a reasonable argument against the wealthy elite would be that they are likely to have the most significant influence on preempting policy that could help deal with climate change. They would have the most vested interest in maintaining the status quo, due to their positions at the head of industry, and their children would suffer the fewest consequences of unmitigated climate change. But then again, there is also a significant number of voters, at least here in the United States, who aren't going to get behind any policy that may cost jobs and increase energy prices in the immediate term. And then there's China, putting out 27% of total global carbon emissions. So as convenient as it would be to just blame the rich, climate change is simply too broad an issue to put on the shoulders of any one group or entity, even China.

davidw 5y ago
The nice thing about a carbon tax is we don't have to figure out exactly who is doing what. We just tax it and let things sort themselves out.
- IntrepidWorm 5y ago
  Things don't just sort out though. Where does that money go? If it goes back into a project that is equally as environmentally destructive, you've just laundered the carbon. Given that the institutions responsible for implementing and enforcing a carbon tax are inextricably linked to the institutions producing some of the highest sources of carbon pollution, I find the proposition that a carbon tax will sort anything out to be unsettling.