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wildgarlic

What do you think about personal carbon credits?

Quote:

MPs back personal carbon credits

The government should go ahead with a system of personal "carbon credits" to meet emissions targets, MPs have said.

The Environmental Audit Committee said the scheme would be more effective than taxes for cutting carbon emissions.

Under the scheme people would be given an annual carbon limit for fuel and energy use - which they could exceed by buying credits from those who use less.

Environment minister Hilary Benn said there were practical drawbacks to the plan although it did have "potential".


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Ina

Very difficult to regulate that, I think - and as usual, the rich will just buy up what they can. George Monbiot has something on that in his book Heat - have to read up again.
PurpleDragon

I think it is just another ploy to make us think they actually give a damn. If they spent as much money on actually doing something as they do on talking about it, we might get somewhere.
Diana

Ina wrote:
Very difficult to regulate that, I think - and as usual, the rich will just buy up what they can.


Which would mean the "poor" would be not so poor?
Ina

Diana wrote:

Which would mean the "poor" would be not so poor?


Depends on the price, I suppose! If it comes to the point where the poor would have to sell their carbon credits to buy food (like the current problem for many of "heating or eating"), they'd still be poor. They might then have a little more money, but wouldn't be allowed to spend it on anything that releases carbon...
Jessica

... and generally the poor do not have money to invest in more carbon efficient appliances/heating system/transport etc.

Depends how big an allowance you would get - on a european industrial basis the initial allowance was actual very generous so that it would hardly have an effect but would make you think of what actually is carbon-inefficient.

However, the money that would be spend on such a system is probably better spend in grants to reduce carbon emission via insulation/renewable energies etc.
Maidenstone

And what about the people who can't give-a-damn?  They will just shell out more money for fuel etc., and not cut down a bit.  There is a large proportion of the population who will just carry on as normal.  It has to be done for them, or to them, so that they have no choice, but what ... I don't know.
Jessica

the point is that there are not only paying more for fuel but also using up their carbon allowance - once that is used up they will have to buy allowances from peope who have some spare and that price again will vary depending on supply and demand - just like the fuel prices now.
       NEEPS Forum Index -> Global Warming, Climate Change etc
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