The carbon tax has its critics — do any of them have better ideas?
The carbon tax has its critics — do any of them have better ideas?
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Yes, fine the shit out of them with penalties that will actually impact or potentially even destroy corporations who choose to continue destroying our planet instead of these tiny bullshit slap on the wrist fines that companies just laugh off
If a company exists at the expense of humanity's survival then it does not deserve to exist.
The difficult part is it's tough to actually measure pollution emitted by an entity accurately and fine accordingly.
You can guess how much CO2 output there is from a refinery, sure, and fine them for it, but they will just raise the prices of end products to compensate for it.
In the end gas goes up the same amount but the less affluent people dependant on it won't get rebates. They're money just goes to the corporations anyways in order to pay for the fines.
how much CO2 output there is from a refinery, sure, and fine them for it, but they will just raise the prices of end products to compensate for it.
If their polluting activities ultimately lead to fewer people buying their products because of that increased cost, maybe that's the financial incentive they need to clean up their act?
Though I don't hold my breath that big corporations are willing (or able) to think beyond next month's profit and instead look a year or 5 into the future sustainability of their enterprise (let alone their negative impacts on the society that they exist in)
but they will just raise the prices of end products to compensate for it.
Not if you slap that bullshit down with regulations: Prevent them from pulling that kind of shit and when they find a way around it (because they will) you put a stop to that shit too.
Yeah I can see the argument that implementing the regulatory framework necessary to monitor emissions would be more in our long term interests (and possibly cheaper in the long run) and better than hoping a broad tax will cause bad actors to act better.
It needs to be comprehensive or it won't work but there are too many rich assholes controlling greedy politicians
Seems that this idea can be done at the same time as we apply the economic bottom-up push.
corporations who choose to continue destroying our planet
Which ones are the good oil companies? Or do you think we don't need any oil companies?
It feels like this suggestion relies on there only being a few people that are contributing to the problem, when in reality it's pretty structural.