Global Carbon Tax?
Would you support the first ever worldwide tax called the Global Carbon Tax? It doesn't exist, but it is being talked about among some EU members and some corporations around the world. How would such a tax be implemented? Is it ethical? Would the tax be justified?
As much as I love the environment and believe that something must be done before we destroy our planet, I am completely against a worldwide global carbon tax. It is especially unfair to third world countries who are the victims of first world pollution and greenhouse gases. Nevertheless there are many supporters of a carbon tax of some sort whether it is city wide, industry wide, or statewide. Some prominent global leaders are awaiting the successor to the Kyoto Treaty which hasn't done very much to mitigate harmful effects of climate change. One could argue that the effects of climate change are now being seen with odd and extreme weather across the world.
Most companies, including Barclays, advocate a global carbon tax, and are, somewhat optimistically, waiting for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol that includes such a move. -climatechangecorp.com
Establishing a global market for carbon by setting a value on carbon in the market might be way to handle the issue.
Europe already has a system like this called the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The scheme covers almost 30 countries and 40 billion euros worth of emissions are allocated to it. The scheme is getting some influence from some transactions that have occurred in the US and in Asia so I speculated that this will truly become an international system given enough time.
My guess is that if their were a global carbon tax, it would be governed by the United Nations. The research they conduct on climate change with the International Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), have findings that suggest global turmoil by the end of next century if nothing is done. Their most probable excuse for trying to implement such a tax would be "A global problem requires a global tax", or something to that end. Once again, I cannot ever support something like this, would their be a vote? There are far too many questions surrounding the administering of such a tax. I think that if people do care about something like this, then they should vote on it on a state by state system in the US.
For now, there is no such thing as a global carbon tax, but perhaps this issue will get more media attention in the near future.
Technorati Tags: global warming
6 comments:
I agree.. a global tax, even if it was revenue-neutral and the funds were used for outfitting under privileged homes with energy efficient widgets, the result would mean worldwide price increases on uncounted unclean industry products including the energy industry. Sounds like a disaster to me, too.
thanks for the comment, yeah unfortunately it seems like this is the direction some elite EU members are looking forward to...who knows if they will succeed, a lot of people will become upset about it for sure.
A global tax could be a good idea, if it would work as the new french eco-tax on cars.
I explain : french will have to pay a tax depending of the emissions of carbone dioxide of the car.
Less polluting cars will receive money, more polluting cars will pay taxes, the whole thing will equalize.
See this graph :
http://www.notre-planete.info/medias/images/tabeau_bm_voitures.png
If this could be created at a world level, it would be great for the poor and therefore, less polluting countries.
If not, its a bad decision since it will make everyone pay, including those who arent really responsible for the actual warming .... :/
Dreamer
I don't think that a tax is going to afford any solution. It will just bring money into another system and money always ends up adding greed and corruption.
I found a very goog vid clip that describes an excellent way to look at the global warming issue.
HERE
Maybe if it only applied to people considered wealthy. say those that made over 100k a year.
I do agree that global warming is a definite possibility. However I don't think that we should immediately make drastic changes that would create chaos with the economy. I feel that the more people we get involved in recycling and car pooling will have a big impact and that little by little we can make a difference. I also think that we should do everthing possible and within reason - to cut the emissions that our factories produce. I don't feel that a tax is the way to go. It could do more harm than good to the low income families.
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