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To answer you last question, because we are starting with the premise that the free market does not properly price certain externalities (for example, the costs
by mlinsey 17y ago
To answer you last question, because we are starting with the premise that the free market does not properly price certain externalities (for example, the costs from environmental damage associated with climate change). You may not agree with this premise, in which case a debate about how to effectively encourage energy efficiency is a strange place to find yourself.
- jhancock 17y agoI agree with this response. But your prior idea of an energy tax, I disagree. Instead of a tax, you could simply make it illegal to sell vehicles under a certain efficiency rating. Congress has taken this approach, sort of. The only thing wrong with it is the bills get watered down with loopholes and the efficiency numbers are too little too late.
- sokoloff 17y agoWhat vehicles has Congress made illegal to sell based on mileage ratings? (I'm pretty sure the answer is "None, but some get slapped with a gas guzzler sur-tax.")
- jhancock 17y agoThe laws I'm talking about don't go into effect until 10-15 years from now. And they've been watered down. And I expect they will be watered down more by the time the due dates arrive. But the original purpose was to force better fuel efficiency, not to tax inefficiency.
- orangecat 17y agoInstead of a tax, you could simply make it illegal to sell vehicles under a certain efficiency rating. That doesn't work as well. It's much better for someone who lives 50 miles from work to move 45 miles closer than to trade their Hummer for a Prius.
- jhancock 17y agoHow do we do that? How do you transform Houston or a Atlanta into Portland?
- solutionyogi 17y agoI am not sure how you came to the premise that free market does not properly price certain externalities. And even if I were to agree with that premise, we should tax 'environmental damage', not energy usage. This way, if I use clean energy (e.g. solar power) I don't have to pay anything but if I use unclean energy, I will have to pay the price.