Hans, Please tell us about UK carbon rationing. I've read about proposals but would like to learn about implementation. Suggested links will be helpful.
Gene On May 14, 2013, at 7:38 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > Joseph Green quoted a paragraph where I mentioned carbon > rationing and feed-in tariffs, and then commented that > >> The only measures you mention are market measures. > > Feed-in tariffs are not based on the free market, instead > they generate an artifical market according to non-market > criteria. For instance, in Germany, solar panels integrated > into buildings get a higher feed-in tariff than > free-standing panels (to discourage the use of agricultural > land for solar panels), and windmills in areas with little > wind get higher feed-in tariffs than areas with high wind > (to discourage the formation of windmill ghettos at the > coast or on mountain ridges). I think these are the same > criteria a socialist goverment would apply. That all this > uses a price mechanism is only a formality. (Feed-in > tariffs are *very* popular outside the US, they are > spreading like wildfire.) > > Regarding carbon rationing, you say later > >> the more serious advocates of such things as carbon >> rationing and the carbon tax discuss the problem of the >> harsh effects of these policies on the masses. > > Carbon taxes are harsh on lower income people because they > raise the price of essentials. Carbon taxes also do not > provide a mechanism for the international settlement of > carbon debt. This is why I advocate carbon rationing, which > lowers fossil energy consumption without distorting prices. > I think carbon rationing is generally opposed (and almost > unknown outside the UK and Ireland) on two grounds: > > (1) it is more complicated than a pure price system because > for the purchase of energy you not only have to give money > but also surrender a part of your carbon rations. > > (2) equal and tradable carbon rations per person lead to an > income distribution from the rich to the poor. > > Somewhere I said that socialists within the environmental > movement must do their homework if they want to be taken > seriously ;) > >> You don't mention the measures of regulation and control. > > I did mention pure "command and control" measures too, I > spoke of the obligatory phasing out of coal-fired power > plants. I am also in favor of a ban on tar sands, oil > shale, and deep-sea drilling. Such bans don't exist > now, but many countries have phased out incandescent light > bulbs, and there is a push to ban deep-sea drilling in the > arctic. New buildings in Denmark are not allowed to have > natural gas heating systems (because the natural gas should > better be used for electricity generation), and several > countries are now phasing out nuclear. That is the kind of > command and control which I support. > > Hans > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
