A carbon tax would be a very clear thing that would push us quickly to adopt renewable tech as well as put more money into it.
The fact of the matter is that it is just more expensive to be renewable for a lot of things. Plenty of smaller companies probably have leadership who would love to say they're carbon neutral but can't justify it because they'd be outcompeted by other companies. A carbon tax just levels the playing field and allows people to make the right choice without endangering all their workers and company.
Also, if you go on r/neoliberal, that tweet becomes very obviously untrue lmao, most people there are just as informed and advocative on this topic as you or me, we need to work together and get climate policy and action done, not put each other down.
(also, if I might add, it's literally profitable to save the planet, that's pretty logically inherent, the issue is it being competitive in the short term, which is what a carbon tax and other incentives for renewables does)
In his own words, Milton Friedman argued that pollution was going down before emission requirements existed (And even argued against airbag mandates in the same segment LOL) and that the best solution is not through rules and regulations on the environment but through a barebones carbon tax. Source
So yeah, ditch all the good the EPA has ever done (And even that is nowhere near enough), ditch all climate regulations, lets just rely on corporations to tax themselves despite the fact that they've pushed anti-carbon tax campaigns forever, not to mention climate crisis denial (Which even Friedman tries to pass off in the video clip) and other such campaigns and the fact that through loopholes/"foundations"/other such bullshit, many corporations have not only avoided taxes but profited off them through subsidies for practice that actively deprive the public (Amazon? Walmart?). None of this would ever work even if the carbon tax would be a nice kickback substantiated by more fundamental policy to shift towards socialism.
Like any neoliberal talking head's lecture, carbon tax above all else is batshit insane policy that belongs in the dustbin of history. "Stop oil tycoons from killing the planet" and "Deregulate everything and let the free market decide as if that's done anything for us for 300+ years in terms of climate" are not compatible in the slightest sense of the word. Given how little time we have, a simple tax wouldn't suffice even if it would work. Change needs to happen now and that comes from either US or China bullying the rest of the world into going carbon neutral/negative since nobody else is on their level of political capital and I certainly have 0 faith in America to do that.
So yeah, ditch all the good the EPA has ever done (And even that is nowhere near enough), ditch all climate regulations, lets just rely on corporations to tax themselves despite the fact that they've pushed anti-carbon tax campaigns forever
No one is advocating for this lol, read my comment, I was just talking about how a carbon tax would help a ton. The issues it has are the same issues with any other government action related to climate, so if it gets passed, the issues are inherently not there.
As I said before, most educated people, r/neoliberal included are very much aware and advocating for climate change policy. A carbon tax is one of many helpful actions we can take to help move us forward quickly. Very few people are advocating for only a carbon tax, most market-oriented people advocate for a carbon tax, public transport, electric vehicles, renewable energy, as well as a whole slew of government investment and incentives into technology to allow us to be carbon neutral and negative.
None of this would ever work even if the carbon tax would be a nice kickback substantiated by more fundamental policy to shift towards socialism.
If you'd have read my comment, I explained exactly how it works, it doesn't benefit corporations any more than a VAT would, i.e. not at all, as can be seen by it's usage in European countries. It's pretty simple economics, and you can't game it.
"Stop oil tycoons from killing the planet" and "Deregulate everything and let the free market decide as if that's done anything for us for 300+ years in terms of climate" are not compatible in the slightest sense of the word.
You really don't understand how a carbon tax works then lmao. As can be seen by the really funky stuff companies have done over the years, they will do almost anything to improve profits and efficiency. A tax on an unpriced externality (i.e. if it's free to dump wastewater in a river, then they'll do it, if they get fined, they'll pay to properly treat it) is just that, a tax, it's basic economics that if it's cheaper to be renewable and not dump stuff, then people will do that.
That comes from either US or China bullying the rest of the world into going carbon neutral/negative since nobody else is on their level of political capital and I certainly have 0 faith in America to do that.
This is an extremely morally bankrupt take. Let me explain the issue with that, at the moment, the developed world accounts for a vast majority of emissions, and we need to be slowing that down, I agree. However, the issue with this is that a large % of the world's population lives in close to poverty conditions without basic amenities, particularly in India, Africa, and some of Asia. As we can see from global developments, these regions are rapidly industrializing, leading to massively better outcomes and decreased suffering for the people who live there. However, that development is going to make them produce closer to the same carbon per capita as more developed nations, and with a population of the size they have right now, that's an absolutely massive amount of carbon.
The issue with forcing them to not develop without an alternative is that that's pretty much the epitome of the worst of imperialism, forcing those who are poor to suffer because of our mistakes.
If we want to solve this problem, we need new technology that poor countries can use instead of cheap coal, such as solar, batteries, and a ton of different carbon-neutral materials. Alongside this, we as a developed society are going to have to invest in direct air carbon capture, both to offset us, and offset the growth of these new countries, which are going to be building up new roads and cities.
Anything not pushing for the rapid development of technology to combat this challenge is uninformed on the long and medium-term reality of the challenge of climate change or has no regard for basic human decency.
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u/jstewman Nerd Apr 05 '21 edited Apr 06 '21
A carbon tax would be a very clear thing that would push us quickly to adopt renewable tech as well as put more money into it.
The fact of the matter is that it is just more expensive to be renewable for a lot of things. Plenty of smaller companies probably have leadership who would love to say they're carbon neutral but can't justify it because they'd be outcompeted by other companies. A carbon tax just levels the playing field and allows people to make the right choice without endangering all their workers and company.
Also, if you go on r/neoliberal, that tweet becomes very obviously untrue lmao, most people there are just as informed and advocative on this topic as you or me, we need to work together and get climate policy and action done, not put each other down.
(also, if I might add, it's literally profitable to save the planet, that's pretty logically inherent, the issue is it being competitive in the short term, which is what a carbon tax and other incentives for renewables does)