2 ms·
The short answer to that is: No. The long answer to that is: Change zoning so that people can actually respond to a carbon tax that is high enough to capture th
by snapplebobapple 3y ago
The short answer to that is: No.
The long answer to that is: Change zoning so that people can actually respond to a carbon tax that is high enough to capture the externalities of using gasoline and people will make choices that are better for the environment, while being the best for their particular needs, all on their own (You don't need to make the current thing illegal and you don't need to leave this with the NIMBY captured city government either, you can push allowances at higher levels of government that are not as NIMBY captured). The extremely inelastic demand for gasoline is largely driven by the geography of cities, which is directly dictated by zoning and building codes that force extremely low density, large dwellings. Change the zoning, change the cost of petrol and people will demand smaller and denser, which makes public transit and maintained bicycle infrastructure feasible, which increases elasticity of gasoline demand and in turn lowers the carbon tax needed to drive lower usage. It's a vicious or beautiful cycle all driven by what is allowed and not allowed in your zoning and building codes.