Comments on: Carbon taxes http://www.howtoliveinthe21stcentury.org.uk/submissions/carbon-taxes Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:56:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: David Flint http://www.howtoliveinthe21stcentury.org.uk/submissions/carbon-taxes#comment-24957 David Flint Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:38:52 +0000 http://www.howtoliveinthe21stcentury.org.uk/?p=516#comment-24957 The lorry drivers revolt over fuel shows that there will be SEVERE opposition to this proposal. The proposal - or something like it - is essential but the politics are toxic. One approach would be to relabel it as, perhaps, Climate Fairness and reflect this in what we do with the money. The essential elements would be: - Tax carbon emissions, ie fuels but also those from agriculture. (Sustainability) - Tax imports from countries without such schemes to provide a level playing field. (Fairness) - Pay, from this tax, every resident a benefit. The level would be enough to cover the extra costs faced by the poorest 10%. (Well-being.) The rest of us will just have to change. - Use the rest of the tax to pay for climate mitigation and adaptation. (Sustainability) The lorry drivers revolt over fuel shows that there will be SEVERE opposition to this proposal. The proposal - or something like it - is essential but the politics are toxic.

One approach would be to relabel it as, perhaps, Climate Fairness and reflect this in what we do with the money.

The essential elements would be:
- Tax carbon emissions, ie fuels but also those from agriculture. (Sustainability)
- Tax imports from countries without such schemes to provide a level playing field. (Fairness)
- Pay, from this tax, every resident a benefit. The level would be enough to cover the extra costs faced by the poorest 10%. (Well-being.) The rest of us will just have to change.
- Use the rest of the tax to pay for climate mitigation and adaptation. (Sustainability)

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