Political Solution to Climate Change
NZ has been committed to Net Zero approach requiring immediate action and disruption. This is a suggestion of how climate change might be used to attack government waste.
Propose adopting carbon consumption footprint metric to tackle both private and social consumption.
1. A carbon consumption sales tax to tackle private consumption.
2. A universal carbon stipend set to 70% of current average consumption, less our equity share of social consumption.
Carbon footprint is the net pollution inherent in every product and service consumed. Current work is focused almost entirely towards private consumption and how to limit it. However we pay taxes and acquire debt together allowing us to consume socially, thus each person has an equity share of a social carbon footprint in the form of government services. The same methodology that is used in private carbon footprints is applicable in social consumption.
For most people an equity stake in our social carbon footprint is their major contribution to climate pollution, which is where the stipend comes in. If our social carbon consumption is 50% of the average the remaining 20% is paid as the stipend. A 1% reduction of social carbon waste will increase the paid stipend by 5%, thus encouraging voter engagement in the state cutting social waste.
Environmentally this approach is better than emissions capping. For instance international travel emissions occur between places uncapped, but the trip is consumed at the point of arrival. An electric car will create more pollution to manufacture than with internal combustion, but our emissions cap policy is to subsidise the increased pollution.
Using the carbon footprint approach may allow climate change policy to used as a weapon against socialism and allow for a balanced political debate. The right can save the planet by slashing government spending to the bone.
posted by unaha-closp @ 12:57 PM
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