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One thing here I think could be good is the new co2 toll on importing goods. No longer should it be profitable to outsource your climate destroying production o

One thing here I think could be good is the new co2 toll on importing goods. No longer should it be profitable to outsource your climate destroying production outside EU and then import the goods back. For certain goods you have to pay the difference between the carbon price between EU and your country of production when importing. E.g if producing steel in the EU costs €5 in carbon taxes and in some non-EU country equivalent of €3, you would have to pay €2 when importing it. This achieves two things: Instead of continuing as before, but just polluting somewhere else and pretending we're "clean", this actually incentivizes better to reduce co2 usage. Secondly, it should make it more attractive to keep production in Europe.

988747 4y ago
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wkat4242 4y ago
Yes and no. This kind of thing only works if it's practically done worldwide. Otherwise it'll only hurt the EU a lot economically. It could be that it becomes practically standard like other EU initiatives such as RoHS. But in this case it's a lot costlier to comply. Also, taxing doesn't necessarily mean emissions will be restricted. It could be that the market just absorbs the extra cost and continues as usual.
- matsemann 4y ago
  Right now the taxes doesn't work at all. You just move all production abroad since it's then cheaper there. So at least I hope it will be better than how it currently is. And even if someone will just absorb the cost and raise prices, someone will perhaps figure out a more climate friendly way of doing the production of a goods => can produce it cheaper because of less taxes => can sell to consumers for lower prices => other companies have to follow suit.
- flakeoil 4y ago
  > Yes and no. This kind of thing only works if it's practically done worldwide. Otherwise it'll only hurt the EU a lot economically. I agree, but at least EU would get a head start and have companies and knowledge built up around greener technologies. Sooner or later the rest of the world will have to adopt greener solutions even if they don't want it now. Either because it will be cheaper than oil and coal or because they notice they have more fires than water around. Electric cars, electricity produced from wind and solar etc will be much cheaper than coal and oil based solutions so it just needs a little push right now to kick out the incumbent. And not to mention the national security perspective. With wind and solar production we get rid of dependence from countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia. In the event of war the country is much more resilient as electricity for heating, cooking and transportation is produced locally and spread out on buildings etc instead of a few massive plants.
isodev 4y ago
Agreed and I hope so too. It sets the scene for others to adopt similar policies. The reality is that regardless of the current economic trends, we're in trouble in the longer term if we continue wrecking the planet.

988747 4y ago

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wkat4242 4y ago

Yes and no. This kind of thing only works if it's practically done worldwide. Otherwise it'll only hurt the EU a lot economically. It could be that it becomes practically standard like other EU initiatives such as RoHS. But in this case it's a lot costlier to comply. Also, taxing doesn't necessarily mean emissions will be restricted. It could be that the market just absorbs the extra cost and continues as usual.

matsemann 4y ago
Right now the taxes doesn't work at all. You just move all production abroad since it's then cheaper there. So at least I hope it will be better than how it currently is. And even if someone will just absorb the cost and raise prices, someone will perhaps figure out a more climate friendly way of doing the production of a goods => can produce it cheaper because of less taxes => can sell to consumers for lower prices => other companies have to follow suit.
flakeoil 4y ago
> Yes and no. This kind of thing only works if it's practically done worldwide. Otherwise it'll only hurt the EU a lot economically. I agree, but at least EU would get a head start and have companies and knowledge built up around greener technologies. Sooner or later the rest of the world will have to adopt greener solutions even if they don't want it now. Either because it will be cheaper than oil and coal or because they notice they have more fires than water around. Electric cars, electricity produced from wind and solar etc will be much cheaper than coal and oil based solutions so it just needs a little push right now to kick out the incumbent. And not to mention the national security perspective. With wind and solar production we get rid of dependence from countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia. In the event of war the country is much more resilient as electricity for heating, cooking and transportation is produced locally and spread out on buildings etc instead of a few massive plants.

isodev 4y ago

Agreed and I hope so too. It sets the scene for others to adopt similar policies. The reality is that regardless of the current economic trends, we're in trouble in the longer term if we continue wrecking the planet.