A new Feb 2008 pdf downloadable from http://www.carbonequity.info/index.html
Here are some highlights. >From the Introduction: > We have, according to the USA's leading climate scientist, James > Hansen, already passed some climate "tipping points" and now face > dangerous climate change in coming decades. While the evidence has > grown to a now overwhelming case, governments have wasted a decade in > endless negotiations and quibbling over who should go first, while > ignoring the large carbon debt accrued by the rich and owed to the > majority world. It is clear that forms of "greener business as usual" > are not sufficient to bring the required depth or speed of change. In > Australia, the mainstream debate remains focused on emissions trading > as a means of reducing emissions, yet there is no agreement on a clear > target for capping emissions! Many in industry advocate options that > may ameliorate but cannot solve the climate problem -- such as "clean" > coal which cuts but does not fully eliminate carbon dioxide emissions > and is unproven technology at the scale required -- or options that > add to other major problems such as "greenhouse friendly" nuclear > power that maintains and spreads technical capabilities that can be > used for the proliferation of nuclear weapons capability. When do we > as a community admit that the current responses are simply not enough > and are wasting valuable time and getting us into worse trouble? At > what point do we ask whether we need to put aside the limitations of > our current models and modes of thinking and stop assuming that > technological innovation and market-based mechanisms can deliver the > reductions that the science is telling us we need to make in the > absence of clear public policy to achieve a safe climate and the use > of a full suite of measures, including lifestyle change? At what point > do we acknowledge that we, as a local and global community, need to > take the global warming problem seriously and consider all effective > options, including those that have been treated as off-limits because > they go beyond business-as-usual. This report asks exactly these > questions. It argues forcefully that we must look for something new, > something equal to the profound and immense task that confronts us as > we stand at the start of the global-warming century. A centerpiece of their proposed solution is a cap and auction system. I am still weary of the side effects of introducing an entirely new kind of property rights, even if the intent is to distribute it fairly. My hunch is that a combination of regulation (ban on new coal) and carbon taxes would be much better, but I am still looking for solid economic arguments pro and con. (That's why I am sending this message to PEN-L.) > An authority independent of government, like the Reserve Bank, sets a > national carbon emissions budget each year, which is decreased each > year in a series of downward steps in accordance with the rapid > transition plan. Because households (in Australia) are directly > responsible for about one-quarter of emissions (generated by household > energy use and personal private travel), one-quarter of the carbon > budget would be made available free of charge as an equal "carbon > credit" (or ration) for each citizen via an electronic swipe "carbon > card" which would be used to draw on an individual carbon credit > balance each time household gas and electricity, petrol and air > tickets are paid for. Unused credits could be sold. For the energy > embedded in commodities purchased such as food and personal services, > the carbon ration would already have been paid by the manufacturer, > and its cost built into the end price for the consumer. If a person > lacks the carbon credits to cover a purchase or is an overseas visitor > without a carbon credit, he or she could buy on the "spot" market at > the point of sale. The balance of three-quarters of the national > emissions budget would be auctioned to business and government in an > "emissions trading" market where the price would rise and fall such > that the business and government demand for carbon emissions would not > exceed the carbon budget target. Back cover: > Here is the message from spaceship Earth. Our planet's health and > capacity to function for the journey through time is now deeply > imperilled. We stand on the edge of climate catastrophe. Like Apollo > 13, we have only one option and that is, for the duration, to abandon > our life-as-normal project and hit the emergency button, to plan with > all our ingenuity how to survive and with unshakeable determination > build a path for a return to a safe-climate Earth and to act with > great speed and efficacy. Our life support systems -- food, water, > stable temperatures -- are at risk, and our consumption of fossil > fuels is completely unsustainable. The voyage will be perilous and > require intense & innovative team-work to find and mobilise > technological and social answers to problems. Putting aside the > "cost-too-much" mantras, our collective actions need to be driven by > the imperative that "Failure is not an option!" If we do not succeed, > we lose not just a small spacecraft but most of life on this planet.
